A Change in Character
by Shadow Master
Summary: A Sequel to 'Bitter Sweet Ocurrance'. A Force imprisoned for a millenia has broken free and it is up to the Manhattan Clan to save the world.
1. Foreboding Freedom

"A Change In Character" by Ryley Breen A.K.A "Shadow Master"

E-Mail Address-rybreen@theberries.ns.ca 

Just when you thought it was safe to download, I have returned! I hope you enjoyed the last story I wrote because it took me a long time to write. Even if you didn't I really enjoyed writing it for the fanfic readers who read my last fanfic. Getting back to the story at hand, it concerns greatly with Titania's and Oberon's adventures as mortals on Earth during the past millennia or so. Over such a long period of time you might wonder what they did and what were the results of their actions on the Earth realm. In this story we will meet one of the most dangerous beings that the rulers of the third race ever encountered. This being was so dangerous to the two rulers of Avalon, that not even they could subdue him for long. If this were on T.V they would show Oberon and Titania using their magical abilities and also Titania explaining what she, Oberon and the children of Oberon have been doing for since leaving Avalon a millennia or more ago.

"A Change In Character"

Kjolen Mountains, Norway, 8:30pm 

The weather in this land was as always harsh and cold but what else could you expect in a land known for it's harsh winters and even harsher past.In the past this was a place that was home to a band of conquerors called the Vikings. For several years they plagued Europe with their plundering of castles and senseless murders. It didn't matter if there was or wasn't reason for the killings, the only thing that saved the victims of the Viking raids was their ransom value. Now you might ask "what unscrupulous desire caused these raids?" One answer was mostly for the riches that could be gained by the raid. Another was because of the religion that these Vikings followed, it set the ground rules by which their lives were ruled.In this religion there would of course been stories of gods and their adventures which were used to explain nature. One such god and probably one of the more well known was Loki, god of mischief and evil. There have been many tales spoken of this god, many adventures involving him and other Norse gods. Unfortunately his deeds of evil did not go unpunished for after the death of the god Baldur Loki is eventually captured and chained beneath the earth for all eternity. Though many who still believe in these gods say that Loki will someday arise from his imprisonment and that it will spell the end of everything, they also hope that they will not live to see that day. Unfortunately for them all their praying has been in vain for the time of his release is near.

Avalon, Present 

Sleep. 

It is usually the one time in a person's daily routine that peace can usually be attained, but not always. On the mystical island of Avalon there exists a people that do not require sleep but sometimes it do anyways. Titania for example rather enjoys sleeping, enjoys the freedom and serenity it produces. Her children and Oberon find this peculiarity of hers pointless and generally uninteresting. She doesn't care for she is Titania, queen of the third race and wife to the almighty Oberon. In these visions of fantasy she has seen a great many things. She has seen her mortal daughter Fox, her grandson Alexander and her son in law David and to all she felt feelings of joy and love. You would think that this particular night would be no different but if you thought this you would be making one hell of an understatement. In this dream the visions of past dreams were thrust aside and replaced with horrors unseen by Titania for a millennia. Now this powerful being is not one easily scared, she has seen every act of cruelty imaginable and then a few. Normally things like this wouldn't trouble her but tonight fate just threw her a curve ball. For this dream terrified Titania ,more so than ever before. So much so that with one heartfelt scream the immortal women woke up in a cold sweat.Even though she was awake and safe in her room the feeling of fright and horror never left her being. 

So frightened was she that all she could manage to say, all she could manage to whisper was "Loki". 

It had been quite a while since Oberon had concluded the gathering and his children and he had settled in. Though a few of the children were unhappy for being called back to their home so soon but this mattered little to him. He was their ruler as well as their father and as such he knew what was good for them. True he didn't feel entirely comfortable with allowing Fox's son remain on the earth realm nor Puck for that matter but what's done is done and there was no sense moping over it. Suddenly a wave of fear swept over him and he felt as thought he would scream if he had not the will power to stop himself. Unfortunately as the sound of another screaming reached his ears he knew that he was fortunate. Almost without thinking he teleported to the source and was shocked and concerned to find his wife sitting up in bed with a look of fear etched firmly on her face.Not wishing to startle her he walked slowly to his beloved's side and took her hand and placed it in his. Despite his efforts the emerald skinned beauty jumped at his touch and looked at him as though he was a formless wraith. This look remained only for a moment before Titania reasserted her normal calm and civilized appearance. 

"You felt it too I presume?"asked Titania as her night gown changed into her normal Arabian princess appearance. 

"Yes and I can only hope that we can stop this evil before it can do any real harm" said Oberon as he helped his beautiful bride to her feet. 

He knew how she felt and felt the exact sense of fear she did. It had been over a millennia since they confronted Loki and brought his reign of terror to a screeching halt but he could still remember it as though it were yesterday (pretty hard given the fact that you've been alive for so long). Loki had begun to secure power on earth as well as other magical plains and was preparing to seize the throne of the third race for himself. Though Oberon's forces were able to keep the challenger's forces from getting to Avalon for a moment it looked as if Loki would win. Only by summoning the combined might of the third race were Titania and he able to subdue him and imprison him with a combination of physical and magical barriers. They had hoped that it would be strong enough to keep him confined for all eternity but they should have realized that nothing endured forever. 

"How will we stop him this time, he'll surely be prepared for us?" , asked Titania as she walked over to the window and gazed out into the moonlit night, "we barely defeated him the first time and mostly due to his arrogance." 

Oberon agreed with this statement, Loki was definitely not the sort to repeat a mistake, arrogance or no arrogance. Before his treacherous acts began he always saw himself as being superior to his peers, superior to Oberon himself. He was always rather hungry for power, that much was shown when he rigged Baldur's death by mistletoe. By the same example he was also very clever and that was the basic means by which his army was raised. He searched for those he deemed to have the necessary resources and skill to fulfill his goals. Once he had them hooked he used their own vanity and greed to manipulate and reshape their needs to suit his purposes. A millennia ago this didn't amount to very much in terms of power but in numbers it more than made up for the difference. In this day and age Loki would be able to have both power and numbers if he so wished and that worried Oberon. He had been on the receiving end of what this era's science had to offer and it was as formidable as magic had ever been. With such power at his command he would give reason for both mortals and immortals to fear him. Something would have to be done and soon but at present Oberon was at a loss for a solution.

New York, America, 6:45pm 

"Problem dear?"asked Fox Xanatos as she looked at the frowning face of her husband David Xanatos looking at his computer screen. 

Their marriage had happened almost a year ago to the day and she had many a chance during that time to study the body language of her billionaire husband. She could tell when he was happy, sad, disappointed or angry. There was nothing that she could not immediately recognize in his behavior. 

"Nothing serious I was just trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with my disgruntled investors" , said Xanatos as he changed his frown to a grin, "I can keep them in line for now but it won't stay that way forever, sooner or later they may take their money elsewhere." 

At first Fox was puzzled by the mention of problems with the investors but soon remembered what it was about. A while ago David had rescued the gargoyles from the police and an angry mob and just a few nights ago was involved in a riot outside New York General hospital. His investors were none to happy about which side David had chosen to support but knew that they didn't have the leverage to force him to change his mind. The eccentric business man was right that he would have to come up with a way to cool their hot tempers before anything happened. 

"Don't worry David, they know they wouldn't last long without you" , said Fox as she plopped herself onto his lap, "besides dwell on it and you'll only worry yourself...." 

Fox was stopped in mid-sentence as a feeling of impending doom shot through body. For a moment all she did was sit there with a look of dread covering her face. David had obviously was a bit disturbed by this as he reached for the intercom to call for Owen.He was just about to press down on the button before Fox returned to normal and stopped him. 

"No need to bother Owen David, I'm fine" said Fox as she tried to put on a confident and calm face on. 

"You sure, you looked almost pale for a second there?" asked David as he removed his finger from the intercom button and reached up to feel Fox's forehead. 

"I'm sure, just had that 'somebody walking on my grave' feeling that's all" , replied Fox as she got up to leave, "Well I'd better get ready if you don't be late for the party!" 

All David did was give a medium sized grin as she walked to the door and left to get dressed. She wasn't sure that he had believed her but she didn't want to worry him over just a feeling she had. Still,ever since she had discovered that her mother was some sort of mystical immortal queen and that she had magical abilities all her own, she had always wondered what exactly were the limits of her powers. Did she have some sort of magical warning system or was she just acting crazy. 

"Well no sense thinking about something so trivial" , thought Fox with a sigh, "I don't care if I have magic in me or not. I have never needed it before and I probably never will". 

Saying no more on the subject Fox walked down the dark tiled hallway and changed her thoughts to those of what to wear and what's going to happen. Little did Fox realize that her magical abilities would be a key part in the battle to come. 

As the sun drifted down farther beneath the horizon, a fiery glow covered the cloudless sky. Shadows finished their day long transformation and had already begun to fade from sight and be replaced by those of the night.People heading home after a long days work and others whose shift is just beginning. One group of people who are abundantly associated with the night are the gargoyles. Some of the populace believes them to be bloodthirsty animals who should be separated from their world. Others are still trying to form an opinion of their own, one based on fact rather then fear. Then we come to the remaining few who believe that the gargoyles have been a great aide to the war against crime. Out of all these opinions one can only assume that time will eventually solve this situation either through violence or peace. As night fell upon the stone statues of Castle Wyvern a feeling of anticipation filled the air. A feeling commonly associated with the transformation of things of myth and things of reality. At first it seemed as though the anticipation was in vain, that there would be no great transformation. That feeling was banished from thought as the sound of crumbling stone filled the air. Slowly, as if it were going in a particular order, the surface of each statue began to crack and fall to the ground. Then the eyes of the stone guardians opened to reveal glowing orbs of light, as if it were some robot that had been encased in solid stone.That theory was ripped apart as each of the winged forms burst forth from their stone skin, roaring with a volume that seemed to be a declaration of their awakening. A warning to all criminals that tonight just became a lot more dangerous and futile. With their warning issued each taloned figure moved about their business but two of the former statues remained atop their perches looking out into the night sky. 

"Are you o.k Elisa?"asked Goliath as placed his hand on her shoulder. 

It had been a few nights since Elisa had destroyed the sphere of Titania and sealed her fate as a member of the gargoyle race. She had reassured him that she didn't blame him for the fate, none of the others did either but he still couldn't help but feel a little guilty. If only he had pushed himself a bit harder, moved a bit faster, it might have been enough to return Elisa to her proper form. 

"Sure, turning to stone at sunrise is getting less shocking and breaking out of the stone shell is easy" , said Elisa with a encouraging smile, "I was just thinking of how I'm going to tie up the loose ends of my human life." 

So that's what had been troubling her since her first days rest here and it was perfectly understandable.Though Elisa's life as a gargoyle was just beginning she had left the remains of her human life behind. Her job, her friends, her family,everything that she had worked for in her years of existence. Somehow she had to find a way to salvage what she could from the past in order to proceed into the future. Slowly she stood up and spread her wings to open air and glided down to the courtyard. 

Once she landed she turned around and looked at him and yelled "c'mon Goliath, it's time for breakfast".

Pushing his guilt torn feelings aside Goliath glided down to Elisa and accompanied her inside. Still, in the very back of his mind, a small tinge of guilt still scratched at his conscience. Even with the modern trappings of technology that Xanatos had incorporated into the castle interior Elisa could still envision what it must have been like back then. Feasts after every victory, minstrels playing their sweet melodies and warriors laughing over feats of bravery and feats of cowardice. Still amongst those feelings of joy and happiness there was the ever present wisp of tragedy ingrained into these walls. It was in these very halls and rooms that brave warriors, both human and gargoyle had breathed there last. 

"It must have been horrendous for Goliath to return to find almost every last one of his people destroyed" thought Elisa as she gazed at the small closet size spaces in the wall. 

As she spoke the words a hint of irony came up and brought a grin to the gargoyle's face. 

"Funny,in a way I guess they're my people now" , thought Elisa as the grin was replaced with a sense of sadness, "so in a way I have lost my brothers, my sisters, perhaps even parents". 

Sounds of conversation from the dining hall dispelled the feelings of mourning from the face of the matron gargoyle. When she and Goliath entered the room they could see Brooklyn and Broadway staring angrily at each other. 

"Guess when one of them struck out both did" whispered Elisa to Goliath. 

"Yes, it would appear so"replied Goliath with a wide grin. 

Things had definitely changed since Angela and the remainder of the voyagers returned home. Bronx certainly seemed to be glad to be back in the company of Hudson and there was no question of the trio's 'appreciation' of Angela. All of them had at onetime or another tried to gain Angela's attention for a time but always had it ripped away by the others. Elisa knew that this made Angela a bit uncomfortable but she seemed to be handling it well. 

"Whoa, look at all this food!" exclaimed Elisa as she got a better look at the spread, "is Xanatos expecting guests or does he expect us to eat all this ourselves!"

There was so much food on the table that you could barely see the table itself. 

"Not really Detective but if you wish to invite anyone I'm sure an extra place can be set at the table" said Xanatos jestingly as he and Fox entered the room. 

"Where are you to going?" asked Elisa with a quizzical look on her face. 

"There's a party being held at the twin towers and we have been invited to attend" said Fox as she returned Elisa's look to a tee, "Why? Do you want to come along, I'm sure the other guests wouldn't mind." 

"No, I've been to enough high class parties to know what goes on" ,retorted Elisa as she took her place at the end of the table, " 'sides I'm on patrol duty tonight but thanks anyway." 

This seemed to amuse Fox a bit as a sly grin came across her face. 

"Some people have all the luck" , said Fox as she gave the taloned vixen a fake look of envy, "see you later, if I'm lucky." 

With that discussion finished the two wealthy business people left the room and left the gargoyle clan with a feast to pack away. Owen was not in a happy mood and that was easily visible by his faltering visage. His cool and calm composure was replaced with one of worry and intenseness. He recognized the feeling of fear he had experienced just a few minutes ago and even he could not shake his reaction from his face.

"Loki is breaking out of his prison and when or if he does there goes the neibourghhood!" thought Owen as he picked up a book from the shelf and tried to concentrate on its contents. 

He would begin a sentence but even before he reached the middle of the page an image of Loki would present itself. 

"Maybe a session of training Alexander would lift my spirits" ,thought Owen as he placed the book down, "his prowess at magic always cheers me up". 

Quickly he shape shifted into the comical trickster Puck and teleported himself to Alexander's room in a flash. When he arrived he saw that the child had also felt the wave of terror but had expressed it in a different and particularly messy way. 

"P U, we have got to get you potty-trained and the sooner the better" muttered Puck as he went for the nearby package of diapers. 

After the mess had been cleaned up Puck began to ponder what trick he should teach the little rug rat. It took him a while but after a few minutes he decided on shape shifting. True this would be a bit of a stretch but with a bit of help he might be able to do it. Taking the young infant in his arms Puck floated to the couch and placed him on top. 

"O.K Alexander, this is going to be quite a strain for your minuscule abilities but I'm sure you can do it" said Puck as his clothes changed into a lab coat and a clip board appeared in his hand. 

Alexander simply sat on the couch, paying little attention to what the floating man was saying.

"You know you're not going to get a very good grade if you don't listen"said Puck as he floated over in front of Alexander so as to get his attention. To this the child simply drooled and giggled, obviously this was going to be harder than Puck had thought. 

"O.k you asked for it. Little child who cannot read, fruits of wisdom I wish to seed, so listen you must and show concern, for now it is time for you to learn" chanted Puck as he gazed at the child. 

For a moment it seemed as if the spell would work but then Puck received the shock of his life. Just as the magical light was about to touch the babbling child it did a complete 180 degree turn and hit Puck right in the gut. 

"Why you sneaky little devil,you've been practicing behind my back!" exclaimed Puck as he overrided the spell and laughed. 

"Ohhh, mother is going to enjoy your report card very much come the end of the month" said Puck as he proceeded to carry Alexander over to his play pen. 

Alexander definitely liked Puck, probably because of his charming personality but Puck doubted it. 

After placing a few stuffed toys in the pen with him Puck said "o.k, let's try your levitation skills kiddo then I'll leave you to play". 

The billion dollar heir smiled and with no more then a gesture lifted a teddy bear a few inches off the ground. 

"Good, good, now lets go for the really big prize and try for two" said Puck as he levitated over another stuffed object next to the teddy bear. 

For a while it seemed as though he was going to hold it but then the toys dropped to the ground. With a frown Puck picked up the small child and floated back over to put the kid to bed. 

"You know Alex you have a rather annoying family trait despite your potential" , said Puck as he placed the child in the crib and pulled the covers over him, "you always mess up when you strain yourself." 

Apparently the child was tired for not a minute passed before he was fast asleep. 

"Sleep well little one because one way or another your future will be decided soon." whispered Puck and with a slight flickering of light Puck vanished from the room. 

****************************************************

**_Avalon_**

"Have you thought of anything yet my lord?" asked Titania as she saw her true blue husband enter the room. 

He apparently was not in the best of moods and it was not an easy task to upset him like this. 

"Not really beloved, the only possible course of action is to try and strengthen his prison and hope it's enough" spoke Oberon in a dry somber tone. 

"How can we do so, according to your own laws no immortal can leave Avalon once the gathering has concluded?" asked Titania as she walked to his side. 

"I know, which is why I'm sending only the Weird Sisters to earth" , replied Oberon as he met his wife's gaze, "they have been waiting for a chance to redeem themselves for quite some time." 

Titania only nodded with but a gesture summoned the three sisters Seline, Phoebe and Luna. 

"Yes my lord?" they said in unison. 

"I assume that you three have felt the same fear as I did?" asked Oberon. 

"Yes we did my lord and it was very unpleasant" said Seline. 

"That feeling of fear was a sign that the millennia old prison of magic and stone in which we confined the being Loki has become critical" said Oberon in a foreboding tone. 

At this all three of the silk dress wearing maidens gasped in horror. Though they were young at the time he knew that the deeds of Loki were remembered by each and every one of them.

"I have decided that you three shall go to the site of his prison and use your powers to strengthen it so it will be able to contain him as it was meant to" , ordered Oberon, "In exchange for these services I shall forgive your actions and perhaps if the job is done well I may allow you to stay on the earthly realm and aid Puck in the defense and teaching of young Alexander." 

The sisters seemed to have mixed emotions about the mission and Oberon expected that. They were probably pleased with the chance of being released from their labors but they didn't entirely like the fact that they may end up working with Puck. None of the children really liked Puck for he had played a prank on all of them at one time or another. 

"As you wish my lord"said the sisters reluctantly. 

Without a moments protest concerning the reward the sisters disappeared and went about to complete their mission. 

"Do you think they can do it?" asked Oberon as he turned to face Titania. 

"Only the timeless Fate can answer that and she hasn't said a thing since the beginning of time" said Titania as she held her husbands hand to comfort him. 

This seemed to help a bit but nothing that Titania knew of could rid either of them of the feeling of doom. 

**************************************************

**_Kjolen Mountains_**

The site of Loki's imprisonment was unlike any other, for there was no marking of a grave. Not surprising since if anyone tried to dig him a way out it would mean the end of everything. High atop the tallest mountain of the Kjolener Mountains appeared the three sisters, who for the past millennia walked the earthly realm. The cold wind and snow blew by them with a vengeance but the sisters took no notice of it. 

"Oberon has promised us much" said Luna. 

"Yes but I could do without the addition of Puck!" said Phoebe with a bitter frown. 

"Definitely but we can worry about that later sister, for now we must complete our assignment before it literally blows up in our faces" said Seline as she gave a sigh of frustration. 

Oberon's punishment had been severe for their violation of Oberon's law and all three of them would just as soon forget about it as soon as possible. Forming a large triangle above the tip of the mountain the sisters began to chant and join their powers. In no time at all the three sisters had built their combined their powers to their peak and the time came for the final incantation. 

"Loki whose power all should fear, your awakening would destroy all held dear, we imprison you now with utmost certainty, that you will remain here for all eternity" chanted the sisters in one vibrating voice and in one concentrated blast drove their immense collection of magic upon the mountain below. Instead of damaging the mountain below the rock and ice below seemed to soak up the energy, to suck it in like a thirsty baby sucking on a bottle. After a while all sign of the magic disappeared from the surface and all seemed as it had been before. 

"Our work here is done" said Phoebe in a exhausted form of voice.

"Yes let us return to Avalon and await our reward" agreed Seline as she floated towards her two sisters. 

Luna was about to join her sisters when her eyes caught a small flicker of energy coming from the mountain below them. 

"What was tha..."spoke Luna but before she could finish her sentence the mountain top exploded in a flash of green magical energy. 

So intense was the blast that it slapped the Weird Sisters from the sky and sent them hurtling to the icy mountainside below. 

****************************************************

Twin Towers, Manhattan

The party had been just as Fox had predicted, stale and boring. The 'big' bash was being hosted by the Hardy Foundation and also as expected the party was just an excuse to unveil some of their latest achievements. David was doing an admirable job of pretending to be interested but Fox knew that he was just as miserable as she was. The only thing that would be interesting tonight would be when David made his speech concerning his new endeavor into the field of archeology. Ever since the gargoyles made their live appearance on television the entire city was asking questions about them. "What are they like?", "How long have they been around?" and "can anything hurt them?" were just a few of the more popular ones. Though Goliath or Hudson could probably tell David everything but he didn't want to be connected to the gargoyles officially just yet. 

"I wonder what Mrs.Hardy would have said if David had shown up here with Goliath and Elisa?"thought Fox with a grin as she got up to escort David to the podium. 

Fox stumbled as the feeling of dread that she felt back at the tower shot through her, except this time it was ten times worse. Her body felt as though it were being filled with thousands of volts of electricity with more on the way. David caught her by the arm and it was a good thing to because at the moment she wasn't sure she would be able to stand on her own. "What's wrong?"asked David as he brought her slowly down into her chair. 

At first she wasn't able to speak at all, her mouth was forming the words but no sound was coming out. It was if she had forgotten how to speak but at the same time knew how. 

"Alright, nod once for home and twice for a hospital" said Xanatos with an obvious look of concern on his face.

Though it was shaky Fox was able to nod once and no sooner did she make her choice known then David helped her to her feet and helped her to the exit.

"Is Mrs.Xanatos alright Mr.Xanatos?"asked the announcer who hadn't left his spot by the door. 

David didn't answer the man, all he did was give a "what kind of a question is that" look and continued to help her toward the door. As she slowly began to regain control of her legs she couldn't help but feel as though these were her last moments on earth. She hoped that she was wrong and that the bad feeling was just the food but she knew it wasn't. 

*************************************************

**_Kjolen Mountains_**

"Are you all right sisters?" asked Luna as she looked around to find her sisters. 

The others seemed to be none the worse for wear but as she caught sight of what was left of the mountain she knew that they wouldn't be that way for long. 

"Oh they're all right now dear Luna, but soon no one will be right at all" bellowed a sinister voice above her. 

Luna searched for the source of the voice and found it almost immediately. Hovering a few feet off the rocky ground stood Loki, wearing traditional Norse armor and a sword in one hand. All of the Weird sisters knew that they must act now or they may never get another chance. Quickly teleporting next to each other the Sisters rose from the snow covered ground for a final assault. Loki seemed oblivious to this attack and was simply floating in front of them with a look of boredom on his face. 

"Go ahead Weird Sisters, do your worst!" said Loki with a sly grin on his face. 

"Your eternal prison have you escaped, to reek havoc at a fast rate, with fury high and great disdain, we give you now great agony and pain" chanted the Sisters and with amazing resiliency an array of energy charged down at the arrogant god. For the next few seconds the sisters strained to unload all they could upon their enemy, hoping that it would be enough. Unfortunately like all batteries of power even the Weird Sisters have their limits. With one final grunt of energy the barrage of magic came to a halt and the sisters slowly floated to the cold snow below. Luna groaned as she tried to get to her feet, she wasn't in the best of shape. Looking at her sisters Seline and Phoebe she could see that they were in pretty much in the same shape as she was. She hoped that they had accomplished their mission because she was virtually dry of Avalonic magic. Sadly her heart sank as a loud resounding laugh filled the air. Turning to find the source she gazed at ground zero of their attack and saw Loki standing defiantly at them. 

"Nice try ladies but no cigar" , gloated the god of evil, "but as a reward for such a valiant effort I shall let you sleep...forever!" 

Almost immediately Loki unleashed his powers upon the three sisters and all three screamed with pain. Luna struggled to fight the volley of magic but it was no use. Suddenly the pain went away and the world began to grow dark. 

The last thing Luna heard was Loki saying "Well if I'm going to reign supreme I'd best see what progress man has made over the past millennia." 

Then the darkness enveloped her and all thought came to a stop. 

**********************************************************


	2. The First encounter

"A Change in Character" by Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master

email : rybreen@theberries.ns.ca

**_Avalon_**

"They have failed beloved" said Oberon as he gazed down at the moonlit courtyard. 

"Yes and now we must act quickly to pick up where we left off a millennia ago, we must stop Loki" , said Titania in a serious tone, "the only question is how, the Weird Sisters were by far our most skillful operatives." 

For a while it seemed that Oberon wouldn't answer but as she saw him turn toward her Titania knew that he had formulated a plan of action if not the beginnings of one. 

"Not true my queen, there is one among our children who has proven himself to be most skillful in matters of importance" said Oberon as he walked toward Titania's mirror(or a reasonable facsimile). 

"You mean Puck don't you?"asked Titania as Oberon gazed into the mirror, "I'm surprised that you would consider him after he opposed you in your attempt to retrieve Alexander." 

"It is true that I don't appreciate the insubordination but aside from that he is our only option" , said Oberon, "Loki will no doubt be monitoring the waters connecting Avalon to the earth realm, we cannot risk revealing anything he could find useful." 

"I assume this means that you have a plan to stop Loki" , said Titania as she walked to her husbands side, "There's no way that Puck can handle Loki all by himself, he's not even at full strength."

"I am aware of this and am going to take the appropriate steps to insure that he gets the help he needs" said Oberon and he began the incantation to communicate with Puck. 

All the while he did this, Titania still couldn't help but wonder what Oberon meant by appropriate steps. 

************************************************************* 

**_Manhattan, 8:00 p.m_**

Goliath enjoyed these night flights, even though he knew that it wasn't for pleasure but for protection. This didn't dullen his profound contentness he felt when he flew with Elisa. Flying with her was so much like flying with Demona had been a millennia ago. Goliath let a slight grin show as he remembered how Elisa's transformation had taken place the first time. The second and more permanent one had been less amusing but in a way Goliath had found it rather ironic that he owed Demona a favor. It was thanks to her theft of the sphere that Elisa had been transformed into a gargoyle again. When the noble leader noticed Elisa staring at him he returned her gaze with a smile and shifted his thoughts to more professional topics. Patrol hadn't been eventful tonight, only two muggings and a robbery. Goliath had decided to let Elisa handle the muggings, she needed a bit of practice. The past couple of nights she had almost broken one muggers jaw and cracked another's ribs. Tonight, though slower than a regular night, had gone surprisingly well. Elisa had stopped three muggers and the worst of the injuries had been a bruised rib or two.

"I think I'm finally getting used to the added strength but I think that the last mugger will be in the hospital for at least a day or so" said Elisa as she began her descent to a nearby rooftop. 

"I wouldn't worry to much, he probably got less then he deserved" said Goliath as he followed her down from the sky. 

Everything felt so right now that Elisa was a gargoyle, it was if the entire world was finally at peace with itself. Suddenly sounds of chaos filled the air as the sounds of cars crashing filled the air. It took him only a brief moment to determine where the disturbing sounds were coming from. 

"The sounds are coming from Times square, let's check it out" said Elisa as she leaped from the rooftop and glided away. 

"Beautiful " whispered Goliath as he saw the newest member of the clan glide off to Times Square. 

She flew with such grace and agility she looked as though she belonged in the sky. "No time to think about that" thought Goliath as he took off after Elisa. As he became airborne he couldn't help but wonder what was the cause of the disturbance. 

"Just when you think you've seen everything!" said Elisa as she came up on Times Square. 

It was like a demolition derby, cars were everywhere and people were running for their lives. Looking at the kind of damage that was done to the cars Elisa thought that they had been hit by a rhino. Her mouth dropped when she located the center of the disturbance, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Standing midst the rubble and destruction was a man who looked like he belonged in a history book. He was fairly tall, medium build, and a face almost exactly like Jackal's(from the Pack). The only difference was the jaw line was slightly different and his hair was red rather than brown. He was wearing what looked to be Viking armor,kind of like the kind that Goliath had worn when he had used the eye of Odin except much fancier. He looked more like a king rather than a warrior. Knowing full well that she would be foolish to rush into an unknown situation like this Elisa landed above the big screen Sony television to observe her enemy. For a while he didn't do anything, he simply stood there looking at the devastation. Goliath soon landed next to her and seemed as puzzled as she was at the mysterious figure. 

"Any idea who that is?" asked Elisa, never taking her eyes off of the Viking. 

"No,but judging from the debris that surrounds him I think it's safe to say that he is powerful and definitely malevolent" said Goliath as he studied his prey on the street below. 

"No kidding but just how powerful is he and can we stop him ourselves?" asked Elisa with a look of concern on her face.

Elisa had seen her share of strange people, she had seen everything from a smooth gangster to an all powerful god named Oberon. All of them dangerous in their own way and most of them she didn't like one little bit. 

"I'm going to find out, you stay up here as back up in case things take a turn for the worse" said Goliath and before Elisa could breath a word or protest the leader of the clan took off down toward the strange Norse figure on the street below. 

"Be careful Goliath" mumbled Elisa with a hint of worry in her voice. She cared for Goliath, how much she wasn't quite sure but she knew she didn't want to find out in battle.

**********************************************************

"Hahaha, what magnificent changes man has made in the past millennia!" laughed Loki as he gazed upon the devastation around him. 

He had originally come to this city to pay his old pal Puck a visit but when he saw the fabulous wonders the city had to offer he decided that Puck could wait. Such new sights and sounds he had beheld since he had arrived. Chariots of metal and glass, castles as high as the mortal eye could see and such bright and wonderful lights. 

"A city of wonders is this" , said Loki as he gazed upon his surroundings, "Truly more magnificent than Avalon ever was". 

"I am pleased to see that you're enjoying it" , said a deep voice behind him, "but you needn't make such a mess to enjoy what New York has to offer". 

Loki turned and was surprised to see a gargoyle land behind him, it had been a while since he had seen one of them. 

"True but I care not what happens to the mortals and their contraptions" , said Loki in his usual omnipotent tone, "besides it was not I who started the confrontation but they." 

The large gargoyle seemed to be taken a bit aback by this show of arrogance, he was probably used to doing the exact same thing to others.

"No matter who started it there was no need for such destruction" , said the gargoyle as he began to approach, "and though you did not intend to do harm you must answer to the proper authorities." 

Loki could not help but laugh at this comment, this gargoyle obviously didn't know what he was up against. 

"You jest well for your kind beast but I'm afraid I have no intention of answering to anybody" , said Loki jovially, "I, Loki the god of evil, answers to none but himself". 

The winged beast obviously didn't like this for his eyes lit up like the street lights above.

"And I am afraid that I cannot allow a being of your strength to run around loose."growled the gargoyle. 

"And who's going to stop me, you?!" asked Loki sarcastically. 

Now was a perfect time to see if the gargoyle race had developed as much as the humans had. With a loud battle cry the gargoyle charged towards him, fists intent on tearing him limb from limb. With little more than a smirk and a flick of his fingers Loki became intangible and the gargoyle flew right through him. A crash sounded as the gargoyle came in contact with a demolished car behind Loki. 

"Is that your best shot gargoyle" , asked the evil god in a mocking tone, "It seems that things haven't changed in the past thousand years, you beasts are still as pathetic as ever." 

This mental jab worked exactly as the dark god had planned, the lavender being was furious now and thus would be prone to more mistakes. 

"I'm a compassionate god despite my reputation so I'll let you take one good shot at me" , gibed the armored being, "better make it a good one beast!" 

With a shrill cry that was loud enough to send ripples of sound back into the past the gargoyle flew towards him like the proverbial bat out of hell. To this you would expect the dark god to at least blink or show some signs of being impressed but instead all he did was smile as the gargantuan being unleased his full fury. 

"This should be interesting" thought the dark god as he watched the display of anger. 

*************************************************************

"I'd hate to be that Viking right now!" said Elisa as she watched from her perch high above the battleground. 

Goliath was none to pleased about that little ghost routine a few minutes ago and was intent on making his next attack connect. From where she was sitting she couldn't really make out what the Viking had to say put it was clear from the expression on his face that he was definitely arrogant and sure of himself. "Well that state of mind won't last long when Goliath gets a hold of him" thought Elisa as she saw the Viking make some sort of challenge to Goliath. With earth shattering power Goliath launched himself at the man. Elisa braced herself to hear the humans cries of pain but the only cries of pain that came to her ears were those belonging to Goliath. The spinster gargoyle watched in disbelief as she saw the Viking deliver a surprisingly quick uppercut to Goliath's jaw that sent him flying onto the back of a damaged car. 

"Enough of the bystander routine, time to get involved" muttered Elisa as she took off from her seat on the rooftop. 

As she got closer to the Viking she noticed that he seemed to be chanting something just under his breath. Suddenly a slab of steel flew off the back of a pick-up truck and wrapped around her like a python (with no relation to Monty Python). Elisa tried to break free of the shining restraint but it was no use, it had obviously been made stronger by the Viking. 

"Well, well, what do we have here" said the Viking as he seemed to guide the metal around her towards him. 

He gazed at Elisa for a moment, as an archeologist would a rare find, seeming to be quite interested. Not wanting the tinplated butthead to get any ideas Elisa let out a furious growl as her eyes became a bright red. 

"Now,now, my dear, I won't have any more of that inhospitable treatment" said the Viking and he began to chant once more. 

Slowly a dark purplish mist flowed from the man's mouth and danced over to Elisa. Trying harder than ever to free herself from the bonds Elisa twisted her body in every natural(and sometimes unnatural)way. Amidst her struggling Elisa could feel the magical vapor caress the surface of her skin and slowly all life in her body began to disappear. 

"No, can't let him do this, won't let him" thought Elisa as she struggled to keep moving. 

"Oh quit fighting it, that other gargoyle tried to resist me and look how he wound up" , said the Viking in a sly tone, "None can resist the power of Loki, least of all some gargoyle vixen". 

For a moment Elisa almost believed what he said, little did she know that she was about to get the surprise of her life. Goliath wasn't feeling at all good at present, though he was surprised that he was feeling anything at the moment. He had come at Loki with everything he had in him and not only did he not connect but he got knocked ten feet away onto the top of a car. His body was definitely in bad shape after the counterattack that his foe dealt him especially his jaw. Not since his first confrontation with Oberon had Goliath been dealt such a blow. As he tried to get up the roof of the car wrapped around him and chained him to the ground. Goliath strained to be liberated from his metal bindings but found that it was useless. Searching for his adversary Goliath saw that Elisa had entered the foray but was faring at present as well as he had. Loki had chained her in much the same way that he had done to him. The very sight of seeing Elisa in mortal danger made Goliath redouble his efforts but for every piece of metal he tore through another sheet took its place. 

"Elisampmmph" roared the noble gargoyle as he tried to wrench free but his mouth was quickly covered with the metal bumper from a nearby car. As he tried to break free he saw a purplish mist crawl from the mouth of Loki and slide towards Elisa who was seemingly in a panicy state. Redoubling his efforts Goliath cynically began to tear away at the metal around him. As the mist began to surround Elisa Goliath could see her limbs slowly become limp and lifeless. Remembering what had happened during the confrontation with the hunters Goliath could only stare as the vapor spread over the matron gargoyle's body. Just as Goliath thought that he would never see Elisa's beautiful smile ever again he noticed that something mysterious was happening to the vapor surrounding the feminine gargoyle form. At first it seemed to be slowly sinking into Elisa's body but now it seemed to be getting sucked into her body like dirt going into a vacuum. Goliath was mystified by this occurrence and apparently Loki didn't know what was going on either. 

"By the hair of Baldur, what's this" gasped Loki as he saw his magical spell being drawn into the body of the female gargoyle. 

This was most definitely not a part of his plan and he didn't like that. Chanting a more powerful spell Loki redoubled his efforts to control the flow of magic and prevent it from being sucked up into the gargoyle's body. He was at a loss to explain it but as far as he could tell the more magic he used to confine her the faster it got drawn in. As he tried to discover the cause of this he noticed that the color of her eyes was beginning to change. What once was a bright scarlet red was now a light green and was growing in brightness every second. 

"I am not certain what is causing this but I will not let this gargoyle defeat me!" , exclaimed Loki as his hands became enveloped in a mist of magic, " I will destroy her". 

With a look of anger covering his red face the angry god erupted with power and concentrated all of his current power on the mysterious gargoyle. Try as he may the god of immorality didn't have any more effect then he had before. As he took a moment to rest his powers he noticed that the glow in her eyes had spread and was now encompassing her entire body. The glow that came from her skin pulsated like a heartbeat, being dim at one moment then brighter a few seconds later. As Loki watched he noticed that the time interval between the dimming and brightening decreased at a phenomenal rate. Soon the god of evil could barely detect the difference. As the change appeared to grow to a climax Loki decided to try once more to thrash this witch and repair his smeared reputation. Chanting now louder then ever before an orb of energy appeared above him, lightning like bolts of energy flashing from the surface in every direction. 

"I will defeat you sorceress, you cannot defeat me" yelled the Viking as he prepared to strike. 

Unfortunately he would not get to deliver this blow for just as he was about to throw the ball of light the matron gargoyle let out a grating cry and a wave of energy erupted from her body. So powerful was the wave that it knocked Loki clean off his feat and cleared the ground of debris for 8 whole feet. Straining to suppress his astonishment Loki got to his feet just in time to see the now free gargoyle vixen drop to the ground. 

"It looks as though I will have to wait a while before starting my conquest, at least until I learn more about this gargoyle" said Loki and with that he disappeared. 

*******************************************************

In the distance the sounds of sirens and ambulances could be heard. With one last hopeful try Goliath broke fee of his metal bonds.

"Apparently Loki's magic dissipates if he leaves the area" thought the noble leader of the Wyvern gargoyle clan. 

Goliath was not quite sure what had just happened but one thing he did know is that he had to get Elisa away from here before the police here. When the officers arrived they would want to know how such destruction came about and it would not do the gargoyle race any good if the police found two gargoyles midst the rubble. Slowly getting to his feet he looked around for any sign of Loki but he was nowhere to be found. The sounds of the approaching sirens told him that he had best save such questions for once they got back to the castle. Picking up Elisa's limp body Goliath leaped up onto a wrecked car and with a single leap became airborne. A few minutes later Goliath was high up in the air and many blocks away from Times Square. Still, it would be a few minutes before they arrived at the castle which would give Goliath ample time to ponder what happened. At first it appeared that Loki was casting some sort of energy draining spell on Elisa but at the last second it apparently backfired as the magic began to be drawn into her body like metal to a magnet. Loki didn't like that and had tried to destroy her by focusing more of his magic but that only made the magic flow into Elisa faster. Then just when Loki was a about to try for a third time, all the energy that was stored in her body simply exploded outwards. 

"Must have been a very powerful blow indeed, it was powerful enough to knock Loki from his feet when I could not so much as cause him to take a step back" thought Goliath. 

He knew that this was going to be important in Loki's defeat but in order for it to be useful Elisa had to know how to control it. Since he was not a experienced sorcerer there was only one person whom Goliath knew who could help. Puck. 

*************************************************

It had taken them a bit longer than expected but they had finally home and Fox for one was glad. The feeling she had felt so profoundly at the party had almost completely dissipated and she once again had full use of her legs. David was not as confident of her motor skills, for he helped her all the way to her room. 

"Now you're sure you feel alright now?" asked David in a obviously concerned tone. 

"Yes I'm sure, now stop worrying and get us something to drink!" , exclaimed Fox in a false tone of annoyance, "Oh and have Owen come down and join us I have a few questions I would like answered." 

David came to a halt halfway to the door and gave her a questioning look. 

"Damn, I shouldn't have said that" thought Jenine Xanatos. 

They rarely asked Owen to join them for anything unless it was for an official reason. 

"Is there some special reason why you wish him to join us?" asked David with one eyebrow cocked. 

With a sigh of defeat decided that she might as well explain everything. 

"I think the sensation that I felt at the party might have to do with my 'unusual' heritage" said Fox in obvious reference to her mother Anastasia Renard A.K.A Titania, queen of the third race. 

At once David understood and continued out the door and out of sight. He returned a few minutes later with Owen right behind him carrying a bottle of apple cider(they had quit drinking alcohol after the baby was born). 

"You wished to speak with me Mrs.Xanatos" said Owen in his common neutral tone. 

"Not exactly, it's Puck whom I wish to speak with" , said Fox as she pored herself a glass of cider, "I have a few questions I would like answered." 

No sooner did she finish the sentence than Owen, in a whirl of magical energy, changed into the playful trickster Puck. Not saying a word Puck floated over to the tray of glasses and cider and began to pour himself a glass. 

"Ask away Fox, I am at your service both as the playful Puck as well as the stiff looking Owen" said the trickster as he sat himself in an antique chair across from Fox. 

"Earlier this evening I got felt a profound sense of dread, so powerful that until we were halfway home I couldn't talk or walk" , explained the tattooed redhead, "it was unlike anything I had ever felt before in my life so I was wondering if it had to do with my 'magical' parentage." 

"You sure it wasn't just the food, the chiefs at those parties know little or nothing about fine cuisine?" asked the comical dark elf. 

Neither Fox nor David replied to this question, they only stared at Puck with a I-highly-doubt-itlook and a frown. 

"Yeesh, not a funny bone in either one of you!" , said Puck with a frown, "as a matter of fact I do know what that feeling is and you're not going to like it." 

Walking over to the television Puck turned it on and a geographical view of the Kjolen Mountains appeared. 

"I assume that you're somewhat familiar with Norse mythology and the sort so I don't need to explain the story of Loki" , said Puck as an area of the mountains changed to a bright yellow, "Well what you felt was him breaking out of his supposed 'eternal' prison." 

Fox couldn't say a thing, she knew the story well enough to know that this bit of news was not a good thing. 

"Just how did Loki get loose in the first place?"asked David as he put on his usual worried frown. 

"Well to explain that I have to tell you how he got therein the first place" , said Puck as he sipped a bit of the cider from his glass, "you better get comfy this may take a while."

************************************************************* 

Oberon smiled as he watched the confrontation between the gargoyles and Loki. He seemed especially pleased when the display of Elisa's new ability was revealed and when Loki fell to the ground dazed. 

"You find something amusing in this my lord?" inquired Titania as she approached him. 

"Not amusing my dear simply interesting and potentially useful" , replied Oberon as he watched the mirror's replay of the encounter, "Elisa Maza, it seems, has acquired a rather unique skill." 

It took only one viewing for Titania to discover what he meant and as soon as she did a smile similar to his own formed across her face. 

"Ahhh, I see what you mean and agree that this could be useful in the battle to come" said Titania as she touched the surface of the mirror and the image of the battle disappeared. 

"Yes but that is only if the mortal learns to control this newfound ability" , said Oberon as he rose from his throne and walked over to Titania, "It would do as much harm as it would good if she went into battle this inexperienced."

Though he felt his own smile fade from his face he noticed that Titania's did not falter in the slightest. 

"Oh but she shall learn how to control it husband" , said Titania from her chair, "Puck will take care of that little problem as soon as soon as he learns of her 'ability'." 

"I hope so because she will most definitely be a key member in the group I am assembling to be the first line of defense against Loki" said Oberon. 

"Group? Before you had said that you had recruited only Puck" inquired Titania once again,"who else have you recruited behind my back?" 

"I have recruited the only two beings at hand who stand the slightest chance at aiding Puck against against Loki" , he said with a look of sadness showing slightly on his face, "though I fear they are just as inexperienced as Maza is." 

At first Titania didn't appear to know what he meant but when a look of shock and fear came across her face he knew that she knew what he meant. 

"Not Fox and Alexander! They have barely any magic to speak of and Alexander is just a child!" , exclaimed Titania as she grasped Oberon's hand, "surely there are other beings with magical powers who you could use!" 

"Perhaps my love but there is barely enough time to act at all" , said the lord of the third race, "I know you care for them more than anything else and I do as well but there is no other option." 

Titania didn't say a word, the tear rolling down her cheek was enough to voice how she felt. 

"I will go and inform Puck of the plan and will inform him to protect Fox and her son above all else" , said Oberon, "with a bit of luck it will all turn out for the better." 

He had hoped that it would cheer up his wife but it only seemed to cause even more sorrow. He left her to gather herself and went to prepare the rest of the children in case the first wave failed. He didn't want to talk to Puck until the last moment, for even though he is the most powerful being in existence he is still within the reach of emotion. 

*************************************************************

Once again Elisa felt herself in the same void of consciousness as she had been in a few nights ago. It wasn't exactly the same for instead of a formless black void it seemed more like a re-enacment of what had happened a few minutes ago. That meant that chances are she wasn't dead, otherwise it wouldn't be taking so long and she would have seen more of her life than this. The last thing she remembered was the Viking casting a spell on her for the second time and the pain in her body slowly increasing. For some reason he was upset by something and she guessed that it was because things weren't going according to plan. While he was chanting the third incantation she could feel her body throbbing with agony, whatever had gone wrong with the first spell was getting worse. From then on in things got fuzzy, all she could remember for sure was that she had screamed as loud as she could and then blacked out. As the scene played over and over Elisa could almost hear what the Viking was chanting. 

"Dormiatus, mortaluxregatay, supernubis agrukem exricayy" he was apparently chanting. 

Whatever that meant it didn't sound like anything she wanted to experience. Then something strange happened to the replay, it began to fade away and in its place was Goliath's concerned face looking down at her. Along with that the normal sensationless feeling that she felt in the void no longer existed. 

"Elisa how do you feel?" asked the lavender gargoyle. 

Elisa wasn't sure whether or not she was still in the void but she guessed that since she was feeling like road kill at the moment she was awake.

"Miserable, what happened?" she asked in a barely audible voice. 

"That is precisely what I would like to know" said Goliath as he apparently was landing. 

As she looked around she saw that they were back at the castle,she must have been out only a few minutes since it only took around ten minutes as the gargoyle flies to get to Times Square. When Goliath stepped off let her down Elisa collapsed to the ground almost immediately. 

"Looks like your going to have to carry me in, my legs don't seem to want to co-operate" said Elisa in sly tone of voice as she looked up at Goliath.

The seven foot gargoyle only smiled as he scooped her up off the ground and walked down the steps. 

"I wonder how we're going to explain this to the others" thought Elisa with a grin. 

One way or another she knew that they would find out soon. 


	3. Preparations

"A Change in Character" by Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master

email : rybreen@theberries.ns.ca

"...And that is roughly the basic jist of it. Not exactly a pretty picture is it!?" asked Puck rhetorically. 

Both Xanatos' just looked at him with a "you-have-got-to-be-kidding" look on their faces. It was obvious that they were scared stupid, otherwise they would be asking him questions two at a time. Fox was the first to speak, not surprising since they were talking about family business. 

"So what exactly do we do?" she asked as she poured what was left of the cider into her glass. 

"You don't do anything, this is Oberon's business" , said Puck as he shifted back into Owen Burnett, "besides Loki has more power that anything you could comprehend." 

"Well then what does Oberon plan to do about it?"asked Xanatos. 

"I am not quite sure but I'm sure that what ever it is it's a dousy" replied Owen. 

The truth is, he really wanted to know what Oberon had planned because he had a sneaky feeling that it would have something to do with him. Oh he didn't mind being the center of the mom and dad's plans but he preferred being notified of the situation beforehand. As he opened the door he could hear the gargoyles talking up a storm in the main hall.

"Sir I believe that something has come up concerning the gargoyles" , said Owen with a slight frown, "it may be wise to investigate." 

Xanatos seemed to be as interested as he was at the level of noise coming from the main hall. 

"Well what are you two waiting for let's go see what the commotion is all about!" , exclaimed Fox as she walked past the two businessmen out the door, "we could use something to get our mind off all this Loki business!" 

All either Xanatos or Owen could do was stare at the redhead in amazement. Not waiting a moment more they both left the room and followed the finely dressed female down the hallway. Unfortunately for them they were about to find out that Loki was all they were going to hear about for the rest of the night. 

*************************************************************

"So let me get this straight, some guy in a metal Viking outfit beat the tar out of Goliath and then when he came to you, you kicked his can" said Brooklyn with a confused look on his face. 

Elisa could tell that everyone in the room was a bit confounded and she couldn't blame them. The thought of her being able to handle somebody that could throw Goliath around like a rag doll was not exactly a common thing. 

"What was the name of this Viking creep Goliath?" asked Lexington as he looked at the computer screen in front of him. 

"He called himself Loki" said Goliath as he walked over to the computer at the glass desk. 

"O.k, lets see what this CD-ROM Encyclopedia has on him" said Lex(ington) curiously as he typed he name into the computer. 

It took a while for the computer to bring up all the info so that pretty much told Elisa that whoever Loki was he was definitely popular. Then Elisa saw Goliath's face do something that she had only seen done in the most dire of moments, a somber, almost depressed frown fell across his face. This did not bode well as she watch him slowly turn away from the computer. 

"It appears that this Loki is one of the most evil beings in history and that his appearance here means that the end is near"said Goliath in a low serious tone. 

"What do you mean father?" asked Angela in a cracked voice. 

"According to legend, Loki long ago sought to rule both the earth realm and the mystical realms but was eventually stopped and imprisoned" , spoke Goliath as he looked down onto the face of his only daughter, "but it is said that some believed that he would someday escape and that the following war would destroy this world" 

To this news almost everyone gave a look of fear and sorrow, all but Hudson seemed upset by this bit of wisdom. Finally with a frown and a growl of disappointment Hudson stood up and shook his head. 

"What are ye all so upset about, who cares what the blasted computer says" , exclaimed Hudson dramatically, "that thing also says that Oberon was undefeatable but we almost did and I think that this Loki is no different." 

If raising everyone's spirits was Hudson's goal Elisa was sure that he had achieved it. Everyone, even Goliath seemed to feel better at this. 

"Hudson's right, we can't just sit here and worry ourselves to an early grave!" , exclaimed Elisa, "I for one would rather die fighting then hiding in some corner waiting for the end of the world!" 

Before anyone else could voice their opinions the doors at the back of the room opened and in walked the Xanatos party led by Fox. 

"Now what's all this commotion about 'end of the world' and 'die fighting' about?" asked Fox with her hands on her hips.

********************************************************

Fox was happy as a clam to get out of that room and that discussion. All that talk about 'the end of the world' didn't agree with her in the least.When she had heard all the talking that the gargoyles were doing she though it was a godsend. Whatever crisis they were currently facing had to be better then all this Loki talk that Owen/Puck had been dishing out. As Fox drew closer to the doorway of the main hall she felt a twinge of deja vu sink to her stomach as the words of the conversation became clearer. She couldn't make out what had been said before but when she heard Maza say' rather die fighting' and 'end of the world' she knew that they were talking about the same thing as what she had just struggled to escape from.Pressing the button to activate the electronic doors she prepared herself for more of the doom and gloom talk she had experienced for the last half hour. 

"Now what's all this commotion about 'end of the world' and 'die fighting' about?" asked Fox with her hands on her hips. 

"Goliath and I just had one weird fight down in Times Square with some dark god calling himself Loki" explained Maza as she turned to face the doorway. 

Fox brought her hand to her forehead and let out a sigh of frustration.

"What's wrong?" asked Maza. 

"I think it would be best if I explain Maza"said a particularly cheerful voice from behind Fox. 

Out from the shadow of her evening dress floated a comically smiling Puck. 

"So I hear you've met my old friend Loki" said the floating trickster.

"You know that creep?!" exclaimed Maza in her usual cop tone of voice.

"Yes I ran into him a millennia or more ago and he offered me a job"replied Puck as he floated and examined the image on the screen. 

"What type of job?" asked Goliath in his usual grim, deep voice. 

"Oh the usual,the 'join me and I'll give you more power than you can imagine' job" answered Puck in a casual frame of voice, "but it had a lousy health plan so I turned him down." 

Fox, who had taken a seat on the couch, cracked a smile at this remark. 

"Glad you like it Fox because if I heard right things are going to get a bit messy around here" , indicated Puck as he floated over towards Elisa Maza, "but let's worry about that later, I'm more interested in hearing how you and Goliath got away from Loki, he's not the sort to give up easily." 

Puck listened patiently as Maza and Goliath told him about the little snafu at Times Square. For the most part it was just your usual fight but He was quite intrigued when they came to the part where Maza began to absorb every gallon of magical energy that was thrown at her. 

"This could be quite useful indeed" , thought Puck with a grin,"but I must learn more about Maza's 'unique' ability and since there is no users manual on magical abilities we'll have to experiment." 

After the two gargoyles concluded their explanation and the Xanatos' questions the clever floating changeling decided it was time to find out just what type of abilities the gargoyle divinity had. Wasting no time Puck zipped from the room and when he returned a steel clan robot lumbered along behind him.

"Puck what are you doing with one of my steel clan robots?" asked Xanatos in an annoyed and yet curious tone. 

"Oh don't worry Xanatos, I'm sure you can afford to make another one with all your millions of dollars" , said Puck smugly as he turned to Maza, "now detective I think it would be prudent to do a little bit of experimenting with your newfound gift." 

The feminine gargoyle seemed a bit nervous at being used as a test subject but that was understandable. 

"Do you know what happened to me?" asked Maza as she gazed past him at the steel clan robot. 

"Not completely but this little experiment should elucidate things a bit" replied Puck as he told the piece of tin to stay(literally), "now you'll have to trust me for things to go smoothly." 

It was obvious by her expression that the gargoyle detective trusted him about as far as she could throw him but was willing to do what he wanted of her. This would definitely make things a bit difficult but Puck wasn't worried. 

"O.k, let's get started" said the dark elf. 

Elisa wasn't sure what the floating imp was up to but she had no choice.Whatever power she had she would have to learn how to use or it may cause problems for her in the future. 

"O.k, what do you want me to do?" she asked in a nervous tone. 

"For the moment nothing" , said the changeling,"Now I'm going to cast a spell on you, so while I do that I want you to think exactly what you were thinking at Times Square." 

Not being in a position to argue Elisa closed her eyes and began to think the same thoughts of resistance she had thought while attacked by Loki. 

"Peculiar gargoyle you truly are, you who do not need a car, gone now be your black locks, now be as bald as wooden blocks" chanted Puck in a ghostly manner.

Instantly green streaks of light shot from his eyes and struck her in the head. At first the magical spell seemed to be doing what Puck had wanted it to do, Elisa could feel her hair slowly slip away. Then it happened,the sensation she had felt when Loki had cast his spell on her before.Slowly the spell he cast reversed itself and the magical emerald energy began to seep into her skin. It felt like her entire face was being scraped against sandpaper, she could almost feel her skin peel away. A few seconds later the sensation she had felt had vanished, along with the sandpaper pain as well. Elisa thought that she should feel normal now but she couldn't help feel as though her entire body was filled with some exotic charge. Elisa opened her eyes and was shocked when she saw that everything was a glowing shade of green. It was like when she got angry and her eyes became a bright red except it was green at the moment. 

"How do you feel Elisa?" asked Goliath as he stepped toward her. 

"Weird, like I just had a major energy boost but I still feel tired" replied Elisa.

"Alright, enough of the idle chit chat you two" , said Puck sarcastically,"Now that we know that it wasn't a fluke that you can absorb magic lets see if that's all there is to it." 

He floated over next to Elisa and placed his head next to her shoulder. Elisa didn't like it when the little imp was in the room much less right next to her. She admitted that he had saved her big time when they had fought Demona for the sphere but that still didn't make her anymore comfortable when he was around. 

"O.k Maza now let's see if you can rechannel the energy" , whispered Puck in a secretive tone, "I want you to repeat exactly what I say." 

Given the fact that she didn't have much of a choice she nodded. 

"Alright people lets give her some room here" yelled Puck as he went around and pushed almost everyone back about a foot. 

When he got to Goliath he attempted to move him but one distinct growl from the seven foot gargoyle persuaded Puck to think again. After he had cleared everyone back he resumed his position next to Maza. He nodded to Maza to prepare to begin and though she was a bit uneasy about what he was doing she returned the nod. 

"Solid form harder than stone, you're more advanced than anything known, but now are brown with rust, turn right now into dust" spoke the changeling as he looked at her face to see her repeat her words. 

With a bit of fear in her stomach she repeated the words spoken by the white haired fairy and then received a startling sensation. The energy that she had felt in her body was on the move and seemed to be moving towards her head. Scared she tried to resist the feelings in her body and force the magic she had absorbed back to the void from which it had come. 

"Don't resist it Maza, it won't hurt you" whispered Puck into her ear. 

Elisa took little comfort from the changelings words but decided that since he was the resident expert on magic she had best do what he said. Ceasing her struggle caused the energy to surge even faster and with a blinding sensation in her eyes the emerald light shot from her eyes. It flied from the slits of her eyes and wrapped its sea weed like tendrils around the steel Goliath. For a moment the steel form seemed just the same as before but with one small huff from Pucks lips and the robotic gargoyle crumbled and fell to the ground.Everyone stood in awe of her newfound ability, herself included. Only Puck seemed least affected by her little parlor trick but he didn't really count. 

"Not bad Maza, not bad at all!" , sang the white haired Shakespeare reject, "you might actually turn out to be my prize student if you keep this performance up." 

Maza was about to snap at the little elf but her words were interrupted by a flash of green light from the space where the former steel clanner had been. A column of light had appeared in the air and slowly took an odd form. It slowly developed curves and sharp corners like a mirror of some sort. Suddenly it all clicked into place, the green light, the mirror shaped column of light could only mean one thing. Oberon was about to arrive. The supreme ruler of Avalon was rather impressed himself when he witnessed Detective Maza's act of sorcery. Even though she was inexperienced to say the least when it came to magic she had handled that basic spell with amazing skill. Though he trusted that Puck had helped her through the rough parts. The gargoyle detective would most definitely prove instrumental in defeating Loki and whatever he had planned. Though this did make things a bit easier Oberon knew that he had to act quickly. Loki no doubt will be curious as to why his attempts to enthrall the gargoyle had failed. If he learns about the gargoyle and her newfound abilities the side of good would lose what small advantage it had. Not wasting a moment more he opened a gateway to the earth realm and watched as the green window portal opened in front of him. He knew that it wouldn't take long at all for Loki to sense the ripple in the magical field separating Avalon from the rest of the real world so he would have to explain the plan as quickly as possible. Time was of the essence and if he hesitated for a moment all would suffer. Stepping through the portal he was greeted by a room full of awe struck faces. 

"We have no time to waste, Loki will undoubtibly have sensed my arrival and will be here quite soon" stated Oberon as he walked over to the slowly recovering Elisa Maza. 

"You my dear are the key to the entire plan, we must insure that Detective Maza will be ready when the time comes" declared Oberon as he took the mortal's hand. 

"What do you mean 'the key'" asked Goliath as he began to approach. 

"Detective Maza's ability to rechannel mystical energies will enable our side to maintain a stalemate with Loki" explained Oberon as he made a halting gaze at the seven foot gargoyle, "she will be able to reroute power to any teammate who requires it." 

This seemed to cause a virtual flood of questioning gazes from those present in the room. For a while it seemed that nobody would pose the obvious question but Oberon knew exactly who would be the one to break the silence. 

"What do you mean 'group' " asked Fox as she curved her eyebrow into a skeptical shape. 

"Loki is still powerful in his weakened state, a team of four will be required to combat him successfully" stated Oberon as he returned Fox's stare, "You, Puck, Alexander and Detective Maza will make up that team." 

"Excuse me but I'm not exactly a sorceress, I didn't even know I had magical abilities until just a few weeks ago and even then I was only able to do it once" exclaimed Fox in a mocking tone.Oberon knew there would be a bit of reluctance and question from Jenine Renard. 

She had probably gotten it from Titania when she walked the earth as Anastasia Renard. 

"I have taken that into consideration and have devised a way to deal with that problem" , explained Oberon, "there is a magical process by which the knowledge and the instincts of a experienced sorcerer/sorceress can be driven into the mind of a 'novice' such as yourself." 

This seemed to make Puck a bit uncomfortable and it didn't take him more than a second or two to show it. 

"Daddy, I know that spell and I'm telling you they won't be able to withstand it" , said Puck giving a look of concern to both Maza and Fox,"true they have potential but their minds weren't designed to handle such a rush of info, they're just to primitive!" 

This produced an obvious icy stare from both Fox and Elisa which even Puck was able to feel. 

"Well they are!" he said as he tried in vain to avoid their piercing gaze. 

Apparently his protest was in vain as Oberon began walking toward the two novice sorceress'. 

"I have taken that into account but can see no other alternative" , explained Oberon in his usual high and mighty tone, "Loki grows stronger with each passing hour, if we don't stop him soon he will be invincible." 

Sadly he had to agree with his father, Loki was bad news enough at minimal strength. 

"Why must my son be a part of this team, he is barely able to perform any magic!" , protested Fox as she looked at Oberon,"he wouldn't have the strength, the power to be a significant help!"

Oberon was not fazed by this in the least, given that he was able to witness the death of the Weird Sisters and not cry why should this bother him. 

"True he has limited strength but I believe that if he inhabits the body of one of the gargoyles, they will be able to supply the needed strength" , replied Oberon as he looked at the clan of gargoyles. 

"Then I volunteer to be the host" rumbled the voice of the leader. 

"I admire your courage Goliath but I must say no" , said Oberon as he placed his hand on the lavender gargoyles shoulder, "It must be someone who will be able to keep their mind on the objective rather then the one they love." 

With a reluctant growl the tall behemoth stepped back into the crowd of gargoyles.

"If not Goliath then who, every gargoyle here would get distracted if someone they cared for got hurt?" stated Elisa as she took a brave step in front of Oberon and virtually got right in his face. 

"The gargoyle Hudson is the one who shall be the host" , replied Oberon as he walked over to the elder gargoyle, "his battle experience and unique leadership style will be adequate for the task." 

The old half blind gargoyle seemed to be taken a bit aback by this news but nevertheless stood his ground. 

"I would be honoured" Hudson said with a slight smile. 

Puck knew that he was honoured to be taking part in the battle and not being the host for Xanatos' little kid. 

"Good then let us be..." said Oberon but suddenly stopped and looked at the windows high above the room. 

"What is it?" asked Xanatos. 

"Loki is coming and coming in force" , answered Oberon as he took two steps toward the door leading outside, "he created demons from the stone streets of the city and is heading this way." 

It didn't take long for Xanatos to act, he already had a finger on the intercom before Oberon had finished speaking.

"This is David Xanatos to all security personnel in the building, red alert, I repeat red alert" yelled Xanatos with a distinct bridge officer tone, " lock down all entrances and exits, arm all defensive systems and post special forces details on all floors, let's move it people." 

Good, Xanatos's goon squad and high tech hardware should stall Loki long enough for daddy dearest to play his hand concerning Maza and Fox. Without a word more Oberon made a motion in the air and a few moments later a aqua blue mist shot into the room and entered Hudson's mouth. The gray haired gargoyle rocked from side to side for a moment, this wasn't uncommon when it came to a transferal of souls. 

"Let us begin" declared Oberon as he motioned for the three mortal members of the strike team to approach him.

Reluctantly the wife of a billionaire and the two gargoyles approached the ruler of Avalon, all with looks of fear and nervousness written on their faces. Oberon raised his hands high above the trio and began to chant words that had long lost their meanings in the Latin language. Slowly an aura of green mist surrounded the three and the process had begun. 

"Well nothing more for me to do but sit back and watch the show" thought Puck as he sat next to Angela on the couch. 

The gargoyle promptly got off the couch and away from the changeling funster. 

*************************************************************

Fox couldn't understand all the strange sensations that she was feeling,it was far to overwhelming. Images, feelings, voices and so much more were racing around her. One image was that of a room in a medieval castle,much like castle Wyvern. In front of her she saw the hands of what she assumed was an old wizard. Just as she was about to see what the wizard was doing the image vanished. This state of being was like being somewhere yet nowhere, like being awake yet asleep. 

"What is all this, where am I?" thought Fox as she tried to make sense of the whirlwind of forces that she was circling her. 

"These are the life experiences of those who have wielded magic throughout the ages" , came a thundering voice from within the barrage of experiences, "every mortal, male or female, since the beginning of time." 

Every wizard since the beginning of time? The redheaded daughter of Titania could barely conceive how many that might be.Hundreds, thousands, millions of men and women whose lives were taking up residence in her mind. 

"Can my mind possibly support all of that?!"thought Fox. 

"I do not know, I have cast this spell many times before but never on a mortal" replied the same bellowing voice. 

"What will happen to my own memories, my own experiences?!" asked Jenine Xanatos. 

"For a short term they will become shrouded in confusion, parts of memories and habits from other sorcerers and sorceress' will join with your own" , said the voice, "how long these memories will remain with you after the confrontation with Loki I do not know but I believe that Detective Maza will have the hardest time coping." 

Fox's mind suddenly shifted and her thoughts were now of the gargoyle Maza whom she had talked with several times since they had first met in prison a few years ago. 

"Elisa must be going through hell right now" , she thought in a distinctly concerned form,"who knows how this memory backwash was affecting her. 

*************************************************************

Elisa was overwhelmed by the flow of data entering her mind. It was like she was in a washing machine at the laundromat and it was on the spin cycle. Memories were flying randomly in her mind, some were her own and others she didn't even partially recognize. The only time she had ever felt this way was when the sphere of Titania had changed her into a gargoyle a few nights ago. With the mention of the sphere she began to wonder why the sphere had changed her into a gargoyle? There must have been at least a half dozen things that could have happened. 

"True enough Detective but the fact that you had been exposed to Avalonic energies beforehand influenced the effect that the sphere's magic had on you" thundered a voice from inside her mind. 

"What? Who said that? What do you mean?" she thought as she tried to figure out who had invaded her mind.

"It is Oberon who is speaking dear Detective" , responded Oberon's loud bellowing voice, "and in answer to your second question I believe that the reason is simply that a build-up of energies had been summoned within the sphere, when you interrupted Demona in the middle of her spell the energies had to go somewhere and do something." 

"Wait you're saying my body changed into a gargoyle form because since the magic had no given purpose it simply followed the guidelines left by Puck's original gargoyle spell!" she thought with a hint of shock present. 

"Basically yes but at the moment it is not your form you should be concerned about" , said Oberon from the void of her mind, "due to the exposure to the sphere the memories you are now receiving may become permanently entrenched in your mind." 

Elisa could barely believe what she was hearing, she didn't want to believe it but she had to. What would this mean for her future? Would this mean that there would come a point where she couldn't contain anymore information and anything beyond a certain point in her life would vanish? 

"I cannot guarantee that it will not happen Detective Maza", said Oberon's voice,"that could happen or the knowledge you are gaining could be what vanishes." 

She hoped that it would be the latter of the two that came to pass but she was prepared to accept the former if it happened.

*************************************************************

Xanatos wasn't sure what was happening with Fox, Maza and Alexander but one thing he did know was that he wasn't just going to just sit here and watch as god knows what is happening to his wife and son. Quickly leaving the room he went down a couple of floors to the main control room of security. The room was already alive and working, guards were posted at the door and at the controls. From what he could see over the shoulders of the technicians at work he could see that the force field generator was up and running as were the laser batteries on the roof of the castle.Everything was going according to plan and if everything went as it did when Oberon attacked they would have about ten to fifteen minutes before the field went down and the hordes of stone demons were all over them."Status report" he ordered as he took a seat at the center of the room and controls. 

"Radar is registering four groups of fifteen beings coming at as from all sides, estimated time to contact is five minutes" , answer a technician from the main control board, "Energy field is at full power, weapons on all floors are armed and ready and all security details report that they are ready to act the second you give the word." 

"Excellent, tell them to expect a heavily armed opponent with unusual weapons" he said as he looked down to the laptop computer built into the chair. 

"Yes sir"replied the technician as he began typing commands into the computers. 

"Well,we're as ready as we are ever going to be" thought Xanatos as he looked at the sixty blips on the radar display on his monitor, "I just hope its enough." 

He remembered the attack that Oberon had launched on him only a few weeks ago and could not help believing that this one would be no different. The combined forces of Goliath's clan and his technology had been enough to delay and anger the lord of the third race for a while but only until he had calmed down and strategically looked at things. From there things got progressively worse, he destroyed the generators and defeated any attempt by either the gargoyles or himself to stop him. He certainly hoped that things would be a bit easier with Loki then it was with Oberon. 

"Sir, t-minus sixty seconds and counting until all four groups make contact" declared the technician with a worried look on his face. 

Xanatos couldn't blame him for feeling the way he did, truth be known he felt the same way. 


	4. The Battle Begins

"A Change in Character" By Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master

email : rybreen@theberries.ns.ca

"Hmmm it appears that Oberon chose a nice spot to appear" , thought Loki as he and his demon horde flew and closed the distance between them and Xanatos Enterprises tower. 

He had created these minions of stone only a few short minutes ago and at the moment he had sixty stone warriors at his disposal. True the destruction of the streets in this city to provide the materials had caused considerable loss of life but this mattered little to him. These mortals lives were almost as worthless as the lives they led.The only thing that they seemed to have a talent for was hard labor. As he got closer to the tall building he could see a transparent aura surrounding the building from top to bottom. 

"Hmmm, what's that strange light that encloses my target" he thought. 

Rather abruptly he found out as the sound of crumbling stone filled the air. 

"Halt, all rock demons halt"yelled Loki as he accelerated towards the front of the crowd of stone figures. 

This was apparently some sort of barrier, not magical but rather artificial in origin. 

"Hmmm, it would appear as though these mortals are not as dull as I had figured" he muttered as he tested the energy field with his finger. 

No matter, his horde of rock demons were created with this defense in mind. With a quick chant from his lips the remaining horde of evil began to crumble to the ground. Soon all that was left of them was a pile of pebbles and rocks in small piles. Loki could almost here the gasps of uncertainty from within the building, the mortals wondering if the threat was over. 

"Not by a longshot mortals, not by a longshot!" he thought as he chanted yet another incantation. 

At first no visible change could be detected but slowly the stone ground began to crackle and crumble and begin to reform the demons. There was no change from their previous form, the difference was that they had reformed inside the force field and from the screams that could be heard throughout the building they had also reformed inside the building itself. 

***********************************************************************

Screams filled the ear of the gargoyle leader and Goliath knew that Loki had begun his attack. His leadership instinct told him to leave and deal with the approaching horde but his heart was telling him to stay and guard Elisa. 

"Go on you guys, take care of those rock heads, I'll stay here and keep an eye on the ladies" stated Puck as he tried to push him out of the room. 

Reluctantly Goliath agreed with him, as much as he wanted to do otherwise he had to destroy Loki's demon horde now while they were of less danger to Elisa. Thinking of this course of action reminded him all too well of the choice he had to make a thousand years ago. He had to choose between going after the Vikings that night and driving them off or wait for them to attack again later while the castle defenses were still weak. He had chosen the former not wanting to take the chance that any of his clan would be killed during the day. It had been the right choice and would have probably have rid the clan of a potential enemy, unfortunately thanks to the betrayal by the captain of the guards and Demona his life was shattered to pieces. His clan destroyed, the survivors made stone even by night by a magic spell and a home in ruins. When he had asked the Magus and Princess Katherine to care for the eggs he somehow knew that they would keep their promise of guarding the eggs. Any other gargoyle in his position probably would have killed them and tried to restore the surviving clan members himself but Goliath had decided otherwise. He was no magician and he didn't trust any human to restore his comrades and maintain their safety. So he made the hard decision of asking the Magus to cast the same spell on him as the one he had accidentally put on the others. There atop the main tower he would sleep for a thousand years until they were brought here to America and awoken. 

The rest of the clan walked out of the room and he took up the rear of the group. In an effort to make sure that Puck did everything he could to keep them safe Goliath turned around at the door to make one final statement to Puck. 

"Watch over them and protect them with your very life Puck, if I return later and find that they have been killed due to your inaction you will envy my long dead clan" stated Goliath in an unusually calm voice. 

He trusted that his white glowing eyes were enough to convince Puck that his threat was genuine. His trust seemed well founded when there came no witty remark from the mouth of Puck. Feeling Elisa's safety seen to he went to join the others in holding off Loki's forces, he just hoped that Xanatos' forces were doing better then they sounded like they were doing. 

*********************************************

All in all Xanatos couldn't complain about the way the battle was going. The soldiers on each floor were standing up fairly well against Loki's forces. He had been a bit nervous when he had seen the rock demons simply crumble to the ground a few minutes ago but when they reappeared the nervousness vanished. True the others probably were thinking the exact opposite way but that was to be expected. They had wanted the rock warriors of Loki to stay rubble on the street but not him. If that had happened it meant that Loki was just going to make things more difficult.At the moment the stone demons were about as much a threat as any other vicious animal on earth. As long as the soldiers kept their wits about them and didn't freak they could hold them back and perhaps defeat them.

"What is the status of the invading party?" he asked as he took separate glances at separate video screens and viewing the carnage. 

"So far they're staying even with our people sir" , answered a technician to his right,"all details were taken briefly by surprise by the change in enemy tactics but have since recovered and evened things up." 

This was good, with both forces in stalemate it should give Oberon enough time to complete his spell and put his plan into action. He still wasn't comfortable with the fact that Fox would be going up against Loki. She barely had any magic in her to speak of, the only time he had seen her exhibit any magic was when Oberon almost made off with his son. Even then it had been a one shot deal, she had only been able to create one burst of magic and that had been barely enough to knock Oberon through the bedroom wall and off his feet.Since then her magical powers seemed to have dissipated completely. To even think her to be in the same league as Loki was a sure sign of how desperate Oberon was for help. 

"Well I think that it's safe to say that Loki has met his match" he thought. 

A loud explosion from the lower levels shattered that thought in a hurry. 

"What the hell was that!?" exclaimed Xanatos as he gripped the edge of his seat to keep from falling off. 

"The enemy must have gotten past the men on the generator level and taken a few generators out" , answered the technician as he scrambled to get into his seat and assess the situation, "Yep, generators one through three have been destroyed and the remaining three in the basement have been damaged." 

"Are the back-up generators working?"he asked eagerly. 

"Yes but according to what internal sensors still operational there is a large contingent of enemy forces heading directly for them" replied the technician in a obvious tone of fear. 

Suddenly the visage of fear that had been on the face of the technician changed and he was now brandishing a wide smile. 

"What are you smiling about?" Xanatos asked. 

"Take a look for yourself sir" replied the technician as he apparently brought video feed from the security camera in the generators sector. 

On the main screen was a sight that he had never expected to be so happy to see. Goliath and the other gargoyles were tearing into the demons like they were standing still. Goliath himself was taking out two or more out at a time all by himself. 

"Go get 'em Goliath" muttered Xanatos as a broad smile creeped across his bearded face. 

*******************************************************

From what Goliath could tell they were managing to keep the stone demons at bay but one could only guess as to how long. He and the rest of the clan were almost through with the group they had intercepted near the auxiliary generators. 

"Nice guess Lex, thinking that they'd come here one way or the other" complemented Brooklyn as he ripped his talons through the gut of another demon. 

"Not really, Loki probably wants to be the one to deep six Oberon himself" , replied Lex as he dodged a punch by the demon that he was fighting, "In order to do that he would have to take out the force field and all the other defenses." 

Goliath agreed with what Lexington had said but he couldn't feel a bit disappointed. Surely Loki knew that Xanatos had the technology and manpower to deal with such primitive magicks. Why had he not made them more powerful or plentiful or both? As he had almost gotten cut by the demons claws he decided to put such thought aside for the time being. Grabbing two of the demons by the throat he smashed their heads together and the bodies went limp and fell to the ground. By the time he had finished the two, the others had finished the remaining few who had been missed by his blows. 

"Well that wraps things up here" said Broadway triumphantly as he kicked the half shattered head of a demon around. 

Frowning he looked at the shattered remains of their defeated foes, feeling that something just wasn't right. 

"Not by a longshot I'm afraid" , came Xanatos' voice from a nearby speaker, "there are still a few more on the lower floors to be dealt with and don't forget Loki is still waiting outside." 

Goliath sighed and motioned for the others to follow him to the stairs a few feet down the hall. At the mention of Loki still being around he couldn't help but feel they were being set-up somehow. Loki was supposedly a being of great power and genius and yet they were defeating him with a fair amount of ease. Either the god of evil wasn't all the legends said he was or Loki had something more sinister in store for them. He just hope that Xanatos' defense systems can compensate for the lack of magic. 

***********************************************************************

Things seemed to be going their way and that just made Xanatos all the more worried. He never felt comfortable with an easy win, even the slightest bit of ease seemed a sign of deceit on the enemies side. With the gargoyles help they had managed to push Loki's forces back down to the bottom three floors and away from Oberon and the others. Keeping a sharp eye on the sensors for each floor he noticed that most of the upper floor cameras and motion detectors had been damaged and were no longer transmitting. That meant that if Loki transported more of his stone warriors onto those upper floors that they wouldn't know about it until they were just a few floors below the main hall where Fox and the rest were. That didn't sit well with him so he decided that he would let the employees here deal with coordinating the security forces. Xanatos decided that in case Loki was setting them up for something he would see to it himself that those plans were foiled. He still had the iron steel clan armor from the little skirmish with Oberon and had outfitted it with iron blades on each wrist. He had made the change from lasers to blades mostly because the lasers had had little effect on Oberon aside from knocking him off his feet. Though he couldn't deny that a small part of him wanted to use the blades for the close quarters feeling that came with it. With the battle armor and blades he felt as though he were a shining knight. 

Not dwelling on the fantasy for another moment he got up from his chair and left the room. It took him a while to arrive at the storage area for him Armour but when his eyes set on the dark gray exterior of the gargoyle armor he knew it was worth it. Five minutes later he clicked the final piece of his suit on and was ready to take on anything that Loki sent at him. At face value it didn't look like much more than a fancy set of Armour but inside the small shafts of his iron wrists were twin blades,each three feet long and one inch wide and a half an inch thick in the middle. Pointy stickers like those could do some serious damage if they connected in the right place. Suddenly he received a message from the main control room via his miniature radio in the helmet. 

"Loki has left his previous position and is moving up towards Castle Wyvern" said the digitised voice. 

Damn, he was right, it had all been a ruse to get them away from Oberon. Puck had been relatively bored since the others had left the room,watching the four statue like figures in the center of the room. He had considered dressing them up in clown outfits or something just as humiliating but he decided that given the trouble he was in with Oberon already he had best not push his luck any farther. 

"Puck, are you there, Puck" Rang Xanatos' voice from the intercom. 

He noticed that Xanatos was definitely upset about something and he wondered what it was. 

"Puck here mon capitane, what's up?" he asked in his usual cheerful tone. 

"In a word, Loki, as in he is at this very moment heading your way" , replied Xanatos with the sound of his battle armor in the background, "He tricked me into diverting the bulk of my forces to the lower floors, I'll be there in ten minutes but by then I may be too late." 

This wasn't like David, the billionaire was used to being the one to trick others not be the one being tricked. 

"Let me guess, you want me to stall him until you get here?" , he asked sarcastically and all he got in response was silence, "you know your even worse than Goliath when it comes to pride, at least he express' it."

The intercom went silent and Puck figured that it was the equivalent of Xanatos hanging up on him. 

"Hmph, fine Mr.Cranky, be that way" he muttered as he teleported himself outside the castle and right next to the energy field. 

As he looked around for signs of his foe he was surprised to find that Loki wasn't even trying to be sneaky. 

"Well I guess I'd better let him know I'm here" , he said as he raised his hands above his head, "evil god who wants to fight, great is the battle against the light, go back to where you came, or face the fury of the falling flame." 

He watched happily as a virtual river of fire appeared outside the barrier and streaked like hail down at Loki. For a while the god of evil was not visible but he knew where that two horned misfit was. A whole erupted into existence as Loki burst out of the falling field of flame, a smile clearly etched on his face. 

"So, this is where you've decided to hang your hat this decade eh Puck"said Loki as he brought himself level with level with the smiling Shakespearian elf. 

"Yes, well Europe was getting so boooring!" , said Puck sarcastically, "but then you would know all about being bored, being locked beneath the Kjolen Mountains for so long!" 

Puck always did have a way with words but then again so did he. 

"True but at least I didn't stoop to pretending to be some lowly servant" he replied mockingly. 

This definitely struck a chord with Puck was his wide grin began to falter and begin to take on the appearance of a frown. 

"Now, now Loki let's not get into business" , said Puck with bitterness barely hidden, "You know I never mix business with pleasure!" 

Just as he had expected Puck was the first to start the fight but he was prepared to deal with whatever the little imp had. To the right of him a blast of Avalon magic shot towards him and connected. He must have teed off the little runt more than he had imagined, he could actually feel a twinge of pain as he regained his balance. 

"Nice try Puck, you can still fire a pretty good blast" , he bellowed as he returned to his previous place across from Puck, "Now let me show you one of my tricks."

Slowly he chanted his spell , letting the power within him grow in his body. Then, with one swift moment of his hand he shot a beam of magic at a small tower on the top of the corporate tower.Slowly it looked as though the stone tower would disintegrate but then the true purpose of his spell took over. As more and more of the excess material vanished the shapes of eight duplicates of the gargoyles that had attacked his rock demons became visible. The look on Puck's face was priceless, clearly the changeling was impressed with this show of magical prowess. It didn't last, a second later the white haired midget regained his composure. 

"You don't honestly believe that those glorified pieces of gravel can defeat me, do you?" asked Puck as he gave Loki a you-must-be-kidding look. 

"Oh I assure you Puck, they are much more sophisticated then those demons I created" he said as he gestured for the changeling to look at his creations once more. 

Puck did a double-take as he saw a stream of magic energy tearing through the air towards the dark elf. 

"This is going to hurt" was the only thing Puck could say before the wave of magic hit him. 

It struck him with the force of a two ton mack truck and sent him hurtling through the wall of the castle. This feeling of pain was new to him and he most definitely didn't like it one bit. After he dusted himself off he flew at an amazing speed towards Loki's little wind up toy soldiers. 

"Back so soon?" , said Loki as a goblet of wine vanished from his hand, "I though you would have given up after that blow." 

"Oh, it'll take more than that little trickle of power to send me running" he said in an obvious tone of anger. 

"Oh and what would it take?" asked the Norse god with a smirk spanning his face. 

"Something like this and I'll use your rocky friends there as the targets!" , exclaimed Puck, "Rocky beings made of stone, it is time for you to atone, may my power do as it must, and crumble you all into piles of dust!" 

Green light zoomed from his mouth and eyes and no sooner did it leave then the stone clan of gargoyles crumbled to the ground. At this sight Loki merely raised an eyebrow in reply, which was pretty funny with the get up he had on. 

"Hahaha, you should see yourself Loki, you look so stupid Hahahaha" , he sputtered out as he began to laugh out of control. 

This seemed to peeve the dark god off greatly for his eyes began to glow a bright, fiery red. Obviously Loki didn't take well at all to being laughed at. 

"You dare to laugh at me" , roared Loki as he clenched his fists tightly at his waist, "No one laughs at Loki, the supreme god of evil!" 

"Uh-oh, I think I may have gone a tad too far with the laughing bit" he thought as he looked at the energy building up around the hands of the Viking god. 

"Taste the power of Loki unleashed" yelled the god of evil as he shoved his fist clenched hands towards Puck. 

With unimaginable strength Loki blasted through the force field as though it were nothing. Not only that but it continued on its path and stuck Puck square in the gut, sending him streaking towards the castle and though two or more walls. As the comical changeling regained his senses he saw Loki flying swiftly toward him. 

"I hope Xanatos won't take all this out of my weekly pay" , thought Puck as he prepared for the fight of his life, "that could get quite expensive!" 

***********************************************************************

From what Xanatos could hear Puck seemed to be dishing out as much punishment as he was getting. He was only one floor and a long hallway away from the main hall where Oberon, Maza, Fox and the possessed Hudson were standing. He was still uncomfortable with Fox and Alexander being at the disposal of Oberon, even if it was the right thing to do. The leader of the third race had tried to reclaim two of the people who had Avalonic magic coursing through their veins once before, why not do it again and take Maza for good measure. Goliath would never stand for that, he had grown increasingly fond of Elisa since her transformation from a human cop to a gargoyle warrior. He remembered watching them when they had planned their surgical strike on Demona in his office, they looked as if they belonged that way. As he reached the top of the flight of stairs the sounds of battle became alarmingly louder. 

"It's gonna take a mint and some favors with the Illuminati to pay for the repairs" he thought with a sigh. 

He still had bills to pay for the last magical confrontation that took place in his home. It was a bit of a pain having to pay for such expensive repairs but when it came to family and friends money was no option ninety-five percent of the time. The other times could be a bit more troublesome but that was only because he had to borrow the money from the Illuminati, loans you got from them were the kind that you paid back as soon as possible. Suddenly he heard the sound of a stone wall being destroyed and it appeared to be coming from the next room ahead of him.

"Alright Loki, you're going to learn that nobody trashes my home without paying" muttered as he watched as the blades in his armored hands popped out. 

Seeing him like this you couldn't help but think that under that iron plated helmet of his was a wide eager grin spread across his face. 

*****************************************************************

Goliath and the rest of them had been climbing the stairs to the top of the tower since the moment that they had heard that Loki had left his position on the ground. He had feared the worst when he had heard this, it seemed to be a replay of what had happened a thousand years ago. He had left to battle the threats to his clan and his home only to find out it had all be a trick, a ploy to lure him away from that which he cherished most.In a way the thought of Elisa being in mortal danger once more seemed to scare him more than it had before with Demona. He thought that it was probably because the pain of losing his first love was something that had hurt him greatly for so long, that the thought of losing it for the second time was too great a pain to bear. These thoughts seemed to drive him even more, made his limbs move even faster. Within no more than a few minutes he became frustrated with the slow pace of the climbing of stairs and decided to take a new approach. 

"Follow me!" ordered the gladiator of a gargoyle as he burst through the door to the next floor. 

Quickly he searched the rooms for an window, for some way to get outside so they could use their wings. He didn't have to look for very long, they were near the helicopter landing pad and it took him only a few tries to find. Charging across the steel and concrete surface and with one powerful thrust f his legs hurled himself out into the open air. Looking for a sign of Loki his attention was immediately drawn to the sounds of explosions and falling debris from the castle. 

"No not our home!" exclaimed Goliath as he pushed his wings to flap faster. 

A year ago he had been forced to take his clan to find a new home, he had found a new home only to have that home destroyed and now his home was in danger of being destroyed once again. Of all the things he had learned to tolerate this was the one chief among them that he would not allow. His ancestral home was all he had left of his rookery brothers, sisters and parents. To see that reminder lost would be like losing a part of himself, to have a part of his soul vanish and die.As he flew closer to the center of the fight he could see that a great deal of the castle had been destroyed. As he and the other gargoyles got closer Goliath prayed that they would be in time to stop this chaos. 

******************************************************************

"Face it Puck, your no match for me" gloated Loki as he attacked Puck once more. 

This was getting old real fast for Puck, he was getting beaten six ways from Tuesday and hating every minute of it. Every time he had tried to mount some sort of offensive Loki would just blow it to smithereens and attack again. 

"Having fun yet Puck?!" asked Loki as he sent another bolt of energy hurtling at him. 

"Always!" he replied as he barely dodge the shot sent at him. 

Dodging seemed to be the only thing keeping him alive but it was costing him. For every place he hid behind just meant that place was going to be destroyed and that meant that sooner or later Loki would spot or sense Oberon and the other magic folk. 

"I hope you're almost finished daddy because when Loki gets done with me you just might have to mourn a son for the first time" he thought as he rolled away from another close call. 

"What's the matter Puck, run out of witty things to say?"asked the horned half-wit as he shattered another wall. 

"Of course not, how could I possibly run out of things to say when you give me such wonderful material to work with" , yelled Puck as he swiftly evaded another bolt of energy, "Of course what would you know about wit after being trapped underground for over a millennia!" 

That definitely set Loki's anger up another notch and that's just what he wanted. The angrier Loki got the more mistakes he made that Puck could exploit and right now he needed all the mistakes he could get. 

"Is this what you have been reduced to Puck?!" , roared Loki as a blast of light from his eyes destroyed yet another wall, "Running away from a fight like a coward, come back here and fight me!" 

He laughed at the Norse gods piece of advice as he went around another bend in the hallway. 

"Do you honestly believe me to take such a stupid bit of advice, oh please?!" , he chuckled as he did a mid air version of the splits, "but then again you never were too bright when it came to advice!" 

As he briefly looked at the face of his adversary Loki his jaw dropped as a look of pure hatred fell over Loki's normally calm expression. With a guttural cry of anger from his lips Loki sent a virtual tsunami of energy barreling towards the awe struck form of Puck. He zig-zagged all over the place to try and avoid the vessel of pain behind him but every time he looked back it was still there and gaining fast.

"Well since I can't out run it and it won't stop chasing me there is only one logical thing to do" thought Puck as he put in one last burst of speed,"I just hope this counts as hazard pay on my contract." 

Coming to a complete halt in front of a hallway Puck reached into his medieval garb and took out a white scarf and blindfolded himself. With one final gesture he brought up his right hand and did the Vulcan salute from "Star Trek". A split second later the wave of power slammed into Puck and sent him crashing through the wall and into the dining hall. 

******************************************************************

"That felt so good!" thought Loki as he saw Puck's nimble form crash through the wall under the force of the blast. 

Finally that little imp had gotten what was coming to him. He had always hated that little wretch of an immortal, even after a thousand years of imprisonment he was still just as annoying as ever. As he came upon the site of impact he noticed that Puck's body was no longer there. Immediately he began to look around the room, looking for any sign of where he might be. For a moment he thought that the changeling had fled but then a peculiar thing happened, he felt a small drop of water drop onto the brim of his war helmet. Looking up he was startled to see Puck floating above him with a jug of something in his hands. 

"Hey Loki, you look thirsty, here have some water on me!" , Puck said as he dumped the jug of water onto Loki's face, "or on you, whatever the case may be Hahahaha!" 

Tired of Puck's endless pranks Loki wiped the last of the water from his eyes and grabbed the vindictive changeling by the scruff of the neck. Of course the normally grinning dark elf struggled to free himself from the death grip which the god of the sinful had placed on him. It was useless but he enjoyed watching Puck sweat for once in his life, he had always been so arrogant he deserved to feel a bit of what he brought upon others. 

"Now , you most annoying piece of filth, before I reduce you to nothingness how's about you tell me what Oberon has planned for me" he asked with a cruel smile on his face. 

"T-t-tempting but n-no!"coughed out the changeling as he tried to pry the fingers of Loki apart.

Well that settled things as Loki brought his left hand back for the final strike. 

"Take your hands off my employee and prepare to meet your match!" ordered a voice from the nearby doorway. 

At first he thought that the armored fool was the gargoyle he had faced before, but as it came into the light he could see that it was actually some sort of mechanical gargoyle. 

*******************************************************************

As Xanatos opened the door that led to the battle site he felt a bit of fear clenched in his stomach. When he looked into the room his fears were justified when he saw Puck in a choke hold and Loki's armored form standing midst the rubble. 

"C'mon David, you've faced everything from common street punks to the all powerful lord of the third race" , he thought as he clicked the locks onto his blades, "you can take this reject from a bad history movie." 

Of course this reject had just taken out one of the most clever tricksters in history and broke out of a prison cell designed by gods. That wasn't exactly encouraging to think but he knew that he couldn't let Loki sense his fear. 

"Take your hands off my employee and prepare to meet your match!" he ordered, trying to make himself sound confident when really he was scared out of his wits. 

"Who dares make demands of Loki!?" proclaimed Loki as he threw Puck across the room and to the floor. 

"David Xanatos that's who and unless you want to go home minus a few limbs, I suggest you leave here and don't look back!" he said as he brought his hands into a kick boxing position. 

For a few sparse moments neither party said anything, then with a wide smile across his face Loki roared out laughing. 

"You, a puny mortal, think you can best me?!" , said Loki pointing a finger mockingly, "Leave now mortal and I may decide to spare your miserable life." 

"Okaaay, that about does it, no body speaks to me like that in my own place" , he thought, "Time to show this tin plated relic how we do things in the here and now." 

Clenching his fists Xanatos watched his adversaries expression when he saw the three foot long blades of iron pop out. It was obvious that he was impressed, the automatic flinch of his eyes gave that away easily. 

"Not a chance Loki,this is my home, my city and my world and if you think that for one moment I simply going to give it up to you without a fight you are greatly mistaken" he declared as he readied for Loki to make the first move. 

"Very well mortal, it will be good to see how man has progressed in his fighting skills since I last saw one" , said Loki as he drew his own sword from its sheath, "even with that armor you are no match for a warrior of my skill."

"Well then, lets see if you live up to your legend or find out that you are just all talk and no guts" he replied as he saluted Loki with his right blade. 

With no more than a matching salute Loki attacked and so the battle was joined, only time and fate will decide who is truly the best of the two. 

***********************************************************************

Puck shook his head as the sound of clanging swords filled the air, for a moment he thought that it was all in his head. He was proven wrong when his eyes saw Xanatos going toe to toe with Loki, and not doing that badly.After dusting himself for the bazzilionth time he floated to just within range of being noticed by both combatants. 

"Puck, go check on Oberon and see if he's almost done with his idea!?" , asked Xanatos as he sidestepped a thrust, "and get Goliath and the rest in here, I can't hold this guy off forever!" 

"As you wish mon ami, keep up the good work" he replied and with a simple raising of an eyebrow he teleported himself into the main hall where Oberon, Fox, Maza and Hudson/Alexander were still standing in the grips of the spell. 

"Well daddy your about to get an uninvited guest in there" muttered Puck as he dissolved into a blue mist and entered Oberons open mouth. 

Once the transference was complete he was able to sense all four presences and all of them seemed totally immersed in their absorption of knowledge. 

"Daddy I know you hate to be interrupted when your working but I'm afraid you may have to rush things now" , he communicated telepathically, "Loki has entered the building and right now even as we think Xanatos is going mano eh mano against him." 

"What?!" exclaimed Fox mentally. 

"Don't worry Fox, he's actually doing quite good but he asked me to come here and try and speed things up a bit" , he thought as he sensed Fox's thoughts starting to jumble all up, "and he's going to get a little bit of help from the gargoyles as soon as I find out how long this is expected to take." 

"It is almost complete, I estimate it will take about eight more minutes to complete the process with optimum safety" replied Oberon. 

"Alright, I'll leave you to your work and go round up the calvary" thought Puck and with that he whisked out of Oberon's body and began looking for Goliath. 

They had been searching the castle for Loki for only a few moments before the building really started to fall down. Goliath and the others had already finished clearing the debris to the doorway when the castle began to quake again. Obviously Loki had met with some unexpected interference when he had entered looking for Oberon. 

"Looks like Loki met his match in one of Xanatos' defenses" said Brooklyn as he dodged a falling piece of stone. 

He agreed that something had stopped Loki's progress into the building but he doubted that it was any automated machine. Loki was clever and could do things that no security system had been designed to handle,even if it was designed by Xanatos. Since he knew that Xanatos himself,despite his great skill in fighting mortals, didn't have a prayer against Loki it must be Puck that was battling the dark god of evil. 

"Actually, oh noble leader, it is Xanatos who's fighting Loki" , sang a melodious voice from above his head, " but he can't keep things going his way forever."

Looking up he was surprised and angry to see Puck hovering against the ceiling. 

"I thought I told you to guard Elisa and the others!" he roared angrily, with eyes blazing white. 

"Hey I needed a rest and besides Xanatos is taking care of that job" , said Puck as he brought himself to a slightly taller elevation than Goliath, "but he didn't forget about your craving for battle, he asked me to tell you guys and gal to join him in the dining room." 

With nothing more that needed saying Goliath took off down towards the debris stricken hallway toward the dining hall. As he drew closer to the dinning hall he could hear the sound of swords as they cut through the air and clanged together. 

"Swords! Xanatos is battling Loki with swords!", exclaimed Lexington as he trotted along on all fours, "I don't know whether to be impressed or scared!" 

Goliath too was impressed, Xanatos was quite skillful in hand to hand combat against a gargoyle but against a virtual god was definitely a shock. Unfortunately it seemed that Xanatos' luck had run out as the doors of the dining room ahead of Goliath was ripped off its hinges as the armored billionaire flew threw the air and slammed against the stone wall. Goliath was about to rush to help Xanatos up when Loki appeared in the hallway. 

************************************************************************

This mortal possessed great skill and great magic, his armor was stronger then any the Norse men ever made. It also made him stronger and quicker than any warrior he had fought previously. 

"I think I shall let him live, if for no other reason then for amusement" , thought Loki as he began to walk over to the fallen mortal's body, "more likely I shall make him my captain of my army of warriors when Oberon is dealt with." 

As he made his way out into the hallway he sensed six other presences there and discovered that it was that gargoyle he had fought earlier and five other gargoyle warriors. 

"Step away from Xanatos Loki, you have a more pressing problem with us" stated the large seven foot lavender gargoyle. 

The beasts subtle threat was apparently very real as the eyes of the other gargoyles began to glow along with his. Doing as the gargoyle asked he took a few steps back and allowed the armored one he called 'Xanatos' to get up and join them. They exchanged the usual thanks and witty remarks and a few of them actually amused him but for the most part it was a complete snore. Then Puck came flying through the hall and took his place among them. 

"Puck, how long until Oberon's little gambit is finished?" asked Xanatos as he turned to the changeling a little bit. 

"It should be completed in about five minutes or so, we have to keep tall, dark and gruesome over there occupied until then" replied the comical imp as he floated a few feet off the floor. 

Talk of this plan worried Loki, Oberon had crossed over from Avalon to this place in an attempt to gain help in the coming war. Whatever it was he would have to find some way of finding out what it was and how he could destroy it. He had just escaped from his millennia old prison a few hours ago, there was no way he was going to let Oberon send him back. The plan obviously concerned this group of mortals more than mere duty, did they have some personal stake in it? 

*********************************************************************

The old Xanatos luck was definitely holding out, a good thing to because he doubted that he would have lasted another five minutes against Loki.This Norse god was unlike any opponent he had ever had to face before.With the others he had some feeling, some guess as to what they were going to do next based on their overall goal. With Loki none of that applied because even though he had a goal he was in no real hurry to complete it and the fact that he was a god didn't make things any easier. 

"Glad to see you could join me Goliath", he said as he checked his blades for any significant damage but found none, "care to help me remove this unwanted and uninvited guest from the premises?" 

"Glad to." said Goliath with a rare grin. 

With the ferocity of a lion Goliath tore down the hall toward Loki, arms all ready to be wrapped around his enemy's throat. Just as the rampaging gargoyle's claws were about to take the head off the grinning Viking Loki disappeared for a second and as soon as Goliath had landed on the ground reappeared. 

"Not very bright are you beast, don't tell me you forgot our previous encounter already?!" Loki said with a sneer. 

"Big mistake!" , Xanatos thought, "If I've learned anything about Goliath it's that you do not get him angry." 

His point was proven when out of nowhere Goliath's tail whipped out and knocked Loki to the ground. The look on Loki's face as he fell was definitely unparalleled in terms of its worth and it was all the gargoyles needed to launch their attack. They came at him from every angle, from above, to the left, to the right and even from below. For a moment he lost sight of the dark god but he knew that wouldn't last long. 

"Puck, start clearing the way behind Loki" , he ordered as he checked the power gauge under a panel on his wrist, "It's time we moved this battle outside where the gargoyles can use their wings."

"Aye, aye sir" replied Puck with a goofy navy salute. 

Xanatos watched as he saw the changeling fly by all the carnage that was taking place on the floor and began to drill a hole through the castle walls to the outside. He knew that he could just as easy use Loki's body to clear the way but it was to risky and besides he wanted to have some rocket fuel when they got outside. Suddenly the gargoyles were thrown against the walls of the hallway and Xanatos knew that that was his cue. 

************************************************************************

"Halapania!" moaned Goliath as he rubbed his bruised and beaten head. For a while there he actually thought that they just might defeat Loki, that Oberon's plan might need never go into effect. Unfortunately when he got thrown into the stone wall of the castle he got the biggest reality check in his life. Loki had managed to toss all six of them away with but a flick of his wrist and got up as though he were none the worse for wear.

"A valiant effort gargoyle but a foolish one" , stated Loki as he looked down at him, "It took the combined strength of Titania and Oberon to imprison me, compared to them you are nothing more than a nuisance, a fly."

"Well this fly is going to give you the biggest case of frustration you've had a long time" declared Xanatos' digitized voice. 

A second later Goliath saw a blur of dark gray fly in front of his eyes, followed by the familiar smoke trail of a steel clan engine. Quickly turning his head he watched as Xanatos flew by in his steel clan armor, clinging to Loki as he propelled himself through a large tunnel in the castle wall. 

"What does Xanatos think he's doing?" , exclaimed Brooklyn in amazement, "If he thinks he can take Loki and throw him around like that he has most definitely lost it!"

Paying no attention to the comment Goliath got to his feet and followed the exhaust trail of Xanatos' jet pack. As he ran down the shattered walls of his ancestral home he grimaced in pain with each sight of broken stone. This was his home, where he learned the traditions of his people, where he experienced love, where almost all of his clan were killed and where the betrayal of his trust in his angel had been revealed. This place was more important to him than anything he could think of, to see his home being destroyed hurt him greatly. He knew that Xanatos would rebuild after the battle and it would look just as it had before but deep down he knew that it wouldn't really be rebuilt. The shattered and destroyed pieces of wood and stone would be replaced and the debris would be destroyed. With each piece that was replaced meant another piece of the actual castle would be lost, a piece of his heritage would be lost. He shook his head in frustration and cleared his mind of such thoughts. If he kept wasting time with such thoughts even more of his past would be destroyed and even more would be lost. It took them about three minutes to get outside and apparently not a minute too soon. High in the sky Goliath could see Xanatos flying, trying desperately to dodge Loki's blasts and occasionally return a blast. Not wasting a moment to give orders he dove into the air and began his ascent higher into the sky towards Loki. Looking at the destruction below him and the injuries the clan had already suffered he knew that they were almost totally spent. 

"I hope Oberon's gamble pays off or else we shall not live long enough to regret it" thought Goliath as he let out a thundering battle cry to announce his arrival. 

***************************************************


	5. The Conclusion

"A Change in Character" By Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

email: rybreen@theberries.ns.ca

Elisa had never been more awe struck in all her life, she was seeing things that no other mortal had ever seen before. Seeing them in a way that perhaps nobody ever would again. Already she had seen the works of Merlin, the mythical wizard of Camelot and many more. She was amazed at how many people had wielded magic over the centuries, most of them unknown to the real world. What impressed her even more was that her mind hadn't exploded with all the knowledge she had absorbed already. Over eight hundred years of magical spells and know how had already been fed into her mind and more was coming. 

"All these spells, all this power that I now possess, it is amazing" , she thought and then shook her head, "I better try and keep my memories and mind separate from what Oberon is giving me,I'm starting to sound Macbeth." 

Then her attention was drawn elsewhere,for a moment she thought she had heard Goliath's battle cry. That definitely made her start feeling impatient, things must be getting bad by now. 

"Have patience Elisa, the spell is only moments away from completion"came Oberons voice. 

She hoped he was right, things wounded like they were getting pretty rowdy out there. No sooner did she finish that thought then the void vanished and the familiar sight of the main hall came into focus.Almost immediately a feeling of nausea and dizziness swept over her body and she collapsed to her knees. 

"The feeling will soon pass, then you must go and confront Loki" , said Oberon as he offered his hand, "I sense Puck and the others are keeping that twisted god at bay but they are beginning to grow weary." 

Elisa didn't like the sound of that as she got to her feet and tried to regain some semblance of balance. 

"I'm alright, lets get going, Goliath needs us" she said as she began walking for the doors of the hall. 

Power swept through her body, with each step she could feel the power swimming through her slim figure. Fox had never felt like this in all her life and the scary thing was she actually liked it. It was like the charge you got after downing a glass or two of pop put hundreds of times stronger.She felt as though every sense that she had was amplified to its full potential. As she followed Maza and Hudson out to the courtyard she felt as though she could sense their thoughts. If that was true then Maza definitely had Goliath on the brain, she could sense that Elisa had feelings for the gargoyles leader but how far those feelings went was unclear. Her feelings were a cloud of confusion when it came to Goliath,almost like her mind was trapped between what her heart wanted and what her mind dictated should be done. She could sense that the fog had cleared up a bit in the last while but it was still a bit confusing. There were a lot of questions floating through her head, mostly about how her family and friends would take the news but there were a few concerning the kind of commitment that any relationship called for between her and Goliath.

Suddenly Maza's head turned around and she said "Fox stay out of my head."

Fox could tell that Maza was not at all happy with this slip of respect,she could tell because whenever she got angry she gave people the same"Don't mess with me" look she was giving her now. To prevent from being tempted once again she turned her thoughts to something else. She looked over to Hudson and wondered what sort of things were going on in his head.She reached out with her mind and found that the thoughts present there were mostly incoherent thoughts and emotions. She could see him remembering past outings with David and herself, teaching sessions with Puck and even one memory of Owen slipping Alexander an extra piece of double fudge cake from their last party. 

"I'll have to have a word with Owen when this is all over about Alexander's eating habits" thought Fox as she moved around a fallen support. 

The sounds of crumbling stone and gargoyle cries grabbed her attention and she wondered what the devil had been going on out there. 

"These mortals are becoming downright maddening!" thought Loki as he flew out of the way of a beaked gargoyle's assault. 

They had opposed him at every turn and had so far succeeded in preventing him from getting to Oberon. He was slightly impressed at the courage and skill they had displayed thus far, surely they knew that they didn't possess half the power required to stop him. Take the armored mortal flying towards him now, he is most definitely one of the more skilled of the soaring warriors.Down in the castle he had shown great swordsmanship and skill, he was almost required to exert some effort in blocking his blows. As well Xanatos showed that he was either foolhardy or incredibly brave a few moments ago when he tackled an almighty god such as himself and flew outside with him. Xanatos seemed to also possess great strength in the ways of machines, for he had been able to create an armor that gave him superhuman abilities. 

"This mortal will most definitely be helpful in my conquering of this world" thought Loki as he prepared to parry another attack by the modern knight. 

Suddenly an ear shattering cry erupted from behind him and he was barely able to catch a glance of his attacker before he was rammed from behind and sent sprawling through the air. As he regained his stability of flight he turned to see the leader of the gargoyle clan swooping down for another assault. 

"I have had quite enough of your continued interference gargoyle" he said as he raised his arms above his head, "it is time I rid myself of your aggravating presence once and for all time!" 

Feeling the power in his hand growing he lowered his hands and took aim at the gargoyle swooping down upon him. Then, in one primal roar, unleashed the full force of the blast. Sailing through the air Loki knew from the start that the gargoyle would not be able to dodge it. The last thing that Loki saw was the look fear spring across the gargoyle's face. The beast didn't even have enough time to cry out in pain before it was engulfed by the deadly energy. Ashes fell to the ground as the energy dispersed and that was all that fell. Suddenly a scream erupted from behind him but t wasn't a scream of pain but a scream of sorrow.

"NOOOOO! GOLIATH! NOOOO!" screamed the female gargoyle as she charged across the yard to the burnt remains of her love.

*********************************************************

Elisa had barely taken a step out onto the yard when she looked up and saw Goliath engulfed in a ball of magic. 

"NOOOOO! GOLIATH! NOOOO!" she screamed as she saw the ashes of her one time lover fall to the ground. 

In that instance everything in her being shattered, every feeling, every thought and everything that made her who she was shattered. Running over to the charred remains of the gargoyle leader all the times she they had shared together, everything since the time she had first met him on this very skyscraper to when they had spoken at dinner that night. As she reached the pile of ashes her legs seemed to vanish and she collapsed to her knees. Already she could feel the warm tears of pain flow down her pain stricken face, she cried harder then any time before this. For a moment she couldn't really understand why she was crying so hard but as she gazed upon the remains of Goliath's body she knew. 

"Goliath my...love!"said Elisa as she gathered up a clump of the still hot ashes in her hand and let them crumble out of her hand. 

In that exact moment all the confusion she had felt concerning her relationship with Goliath vanished and she realized the what the feeling she had felt for him had been. She loved him, loved him perhaps more than anything she had ever loved in the past and now he was gone. Burned out of existence by an enemy while defending his clan and his home but most of all she realized he had died defending her. Closing her eyes she hoped to rid her mind of all of the pain that was coursing through her body but it was no use. All she could see was Goliath's smiling face, his graceful flight through the air and that only made her pain soar. 

"This must have been what it had been like for him to return to find his love and his clan dead!" , thought Elisa as she struggled to drive the pain away, "To find everything that meant a damn to him destroyed, gone forever." 

As she came to terms with this pain she felt a new emotion welling up inside her. Like a force of nature it filled her body and she knew what it was, it was anger. 

"Loookiii!" roared Elisa as she opened her eyes to reveal the blood red glow that filled her eyes and lit up the night. 

Getting to her feet she turned to face the god who had caused Goliath's death and caused her pain. In one powerful push she jump toward Loki, letting out a battle cry that made her intentions known. 

*****************************************************

Puck was in shock at what had just happened, he just floated there at what he had seen. Loki had just killed Goliath, just like that. Of course he knew that they hadn't a chance of defeating Loki he still hoped that they would be able to hold out until help arrived. Now to be proven wrong at such a cost was definitely the tragedy of all tragedies. Hearing Maza's anguish filled cry rang filled the air and he watched with a look of sorrow on his face as she ran to the remains of the once noble warrior. He didn't have to turn his head to know that the other gargoyles had landed on the castle wall overlooking the courtyard. He knew they were feeling like their entire life had just died with their clan leader. That their lives were suddenly without meaning, without purpose, without any value at all.He knew this because in some small way he felt it too. Oh sure he had seen millions of the friends he had made over the years die and move on but none of them gave him as much fun as Goliath had. When they had first met he knew that the gargoyle leader would provide great entertainment for him and he had been right. To see it all come to a crashing halt was enough for him to let a solitary tear form and trickle down his cheek and fall to the ground. 

"Well if Loki thinks that Goliath's death will go unavenged he's got another thing coming!" , thought Puck as he floated high into the air and a look of anger fell across his face , "Nobody kills a friend of mine and goes unpunished!" 

Just as he was about to give Loki one of the worst cases of torture ever a furious cry erupted from below. 

"Lookiii" roared Maza as her eyes glowed a bright red and she got to her feet. 

Seeing the rage on the face of a usually calm and cool detective was enough to convince him that this was her fight. With surprising speed Maza leapt from her spot with a rage filled roar and easily reached Loki even with how high he was. Looking back at the other gargoyles he saw that they were determined to join her and claim a bit if revenge for themselves. Quickly he created a barrier between them and the currently furious Maza. 

"Let us go Puck!" roared Brooklyn as he banged against the wall of green light."Sorry my long beaked friend but this fight is between Loki and Maza alone."Puck said as he floated down to eye level with the white glow of Brooklyn's eyes. 

At first it seemed that the entire clan would tear him apart if they got a hold of him and even from the other side of the barrier he couldn't help but look a bit frightened. To his surprise they calmed down, not enough to stop their eyes from glowing but enough to stop growling and roaring. Turning around he was surprised to see that Maza looked as though she was kicking Loki's butt. 

"Well I'm impressed" thought Xanatos as he watched Maza tear into Loki.

When he had seen Goliath engulfed in the hellfire of magic he knew that he was dead. Then a feeling of sorrow fell over his person, not quite the feeling of losing a friend. It was more like saying farewell to a worthy adversary, a sense of emptiness now that a formidable enemy had been vanquished but not by his hand. Though Goliath had been a pain for many a months since being awakened in this time he couldn't help but feel that his life now lacked the challenge it had before. As he watched Elisa Maza wrestle in mid-air he wished there was something more he could do to contribute to the avenging of Goliath's demise. As he turned to Oberon he couldn't help but wonder if the knowledge that the lord had given her would be enough to defeat Loki. Almost as if in response to the question Oberon shook his head. 

"She has the knowledge to defeat him but I am afraid that she does not have the power to defeat him" , said the lord of Avalon as he turned to Fox and Hudson, "You two join up with Puck and be ready to aid Elisa when the time comes." 

With nothing more then a nod Xanatos watched as his wife and the elder gargoyle flew up to where the combat between Maza and Loki and gone to. He looked and watched as Puck joined the group and at that moment Xanatos knew that the fate of an entire world would be decided soon. 

As he saw Oberon gaze up and watch the spectacle he heard the lord whisper "and so the final battle is joined, just as it was meant to." 

He wasn't quite sure what that meant but he agreed. This was the final battle, one way or another it would end here and now. Fox floated up to a position just a few meters behind the vengeance crazed gargoyle but her eyes never left Maza. The calm and cool veneer that the detective usually modeled had been torn away leaving a complexion of pure revenge. As she saw one claw after another tear into the gods face she almost thought that Elisa might be able to deal with Loki all by herself.In such a state of fury anything was possible, she had a first hand view of that when Oberon had come to take Alexander away from her. It was from her feelings of anger and concern for her firstborn son that her powers had manifested themselves. All her life she knew that her mother had been a bit drawn to things of magical aspects but she had just thought that that was a hobby of sorts for her. Little did she know that her mother was a being of magic herself, that she was Titania queen of the third race. From the first moment she could talk her mother had tried to get her interested in things magical but Fox had been to wrapped up in things that a normal mortal would think about. It was because of her lack of interest in her mother's hobby that her magical abilities had dwindled and weakened,withered away to almost nothing. The capacity of her magical strength now was completely different then it had been a few days ago. Before tonight she couldn't always sense the energy that rested within her, it was like the motions of a wave. Coming and going at random and not always with her knowing it but most of the time she could tell when it was there. The few times when she was present during Alexander's teaching sessions with Puck she would sometimes try to cast a spell herself but it never really worked.Oh there would be a flash of green light spinning from her fingers but it never went more than a foot before dispel into nothingness. Puck had occasionally tried to help her strengthen her powers but even together she couldn't pull off any more than the weakest of spells. She had accepted the fact that she would not exactly be the immortal that her mother was but she wouldn't lose any sleep over it. She was quite skilled without magic to help her. The sound of Elisa being blown away by Loki's magic ripped her away from her own thoughts and brought her back to the task at hand.She watched as the dark god fly high into the air, out of reach of Elisa and her deadly talons. 

*************************************************************

Loki had been shocked when he saw the female gargoyle lunge at him, eyes blazing like a roaring fire and teeth bared like a fierce beast ready to rip the throat out of it's prey. He had expected that she would not seek revenge for at least another few moments, to give him enough time to regain his strength after killing the leader of the clan. This time was torn from his grasp, not more then half a minute had passed before the gargoyle attacked him and pummeled his physical form with her powerful limbs.Normally he would not feel threatened by this but he was uncertain when faced with confronting this gargoyle. Down in the city beneath them she had proven to be able to ward of his magical attacks and eventually use them against him. She had built up a massive storage of mystical energy and then released it on him with such force as to knock him clean off his feet. Clearly he would have to be careful in battling her, he would have to maintain strict control over the spells cast, to prevent her from absorbing them before the spell went its course. With one explosive outburst of energy he sent the gargoyle vixen flying away from him but she quickly regained her balance and when she landed attempted to launch a new attack. With the swiftness of a hawk he soared higher into the air, so as not to fall victim to another lunge. 

"Keep your distance gargoyle, I have already killed one gargoyle this night" , he said as he prepared to defend against another attack, "try and assault my person again and you to will feel death's cold touch." 

All that Loki got in reply was a loud shrill battle cry as the gargoyle dove off the castle wall and began her ascent towards him. Knowing it would be to his advantage to keep her at a distance this time he raised his hands and sent three balls of flame dashing towards her. Concentrating on the projectiles as they went, he focused his mind and kept the energy within contained. As they neared their target Loki anticipated that the gargoyle would dodge them and resume her ascent upwards later but she didn't change course at all. She just continued on, eyes still ablaze with anger and revenge, determined to avenge the death of her lover. 

"If her love for him is strong enough to override her natural instincts then she won't stop until I am dead" ,thought Loki as he began to fly away from the approaching mid-air attack,"although it is impossible for any immortal such as myself to die that doesn't mean that I will allow her to attack me." 

If only Loki knew that all things come to an end, perhaps even the life of an immortal. Elisa's mind was filled with rage, her only wish now was to seek revenge upon the person who had murdered her beloved. Seeing balls of energy coming at her didn't even cause her an inch of fear, didn't cause her to make any change in her approach. Her instincts of self preservation didn't matter now, nothing mattered except making Loki pay for his crime. As the balls of energy made contact she felt their luminescent energy seep into her skin, felt it become one with her being. Bringing it up to it's full potential she looked directly at Loki and began to chant. 

"My beloved you did kill, you thought you could do as you will, but true revenge will I sire, and you will fall by vengeful fire" she said as she raised her hands toward the form of her enemy. 

With lightning like quickness sprang the streaks of green flame from her hands, they flew like shooting stars across the sky and struck their target square in the gut. As Elisa saw the murderer of her love stagger back through the air a feeling of satisfaction welled up inside her. 

"The avenging of Goliath's death has begun but it is not done" , thought Elisa as she glided towards Loki who was beginning to regain his guard, "before I am through he will regret the day he ever even considered leaving his prison." 

Like a tackler in the super bowl she rammed her self into his back and sent them both spiraling down towards the solid stone floor. Loki landed first but the force of the impact still took its toll on her body and she struggled to regain her wind.Unfortunately it took her opponent in this battle to the death considerably less time to regain his wind as he almost immediately regained his footing.Looking up to see he next move she saw a thin column of energy appear in the hands of her attacker. Slowly the green glow of the energy slowly faded to reveal a long crystal war spear in his grasp. 

"You have put up a remarkable fight gargoyle, another time I may have spared you and made you my servant" , gloated Loki as he raised the spear high above his head ,"But you have proven to be too dangerous to be allowed to be left alive,farewell and may whatever gods you worship have pity on your soul." 

Just as he began to bring the spear down Elisa whipped her tail out and knocked it from his hand. Shocked as Loki was he just stood there, mouth open and eyes on the spear. Taking advantage of his distraction Elisa swung her tail as hard as she could and when it connected with the side of his face it sent him flying to the ground. 

"I've got to get that spear, with it Loki's threat will be ended and my revenge satisfied" she thought as she leaped up with all her might at the twirling pole. 

With one quick snap of her arm she seized the pole from it's skyward path and grasped it with both hands as she descended. The second she landed her search for her prey began, looking in every direction for some sign of where he had gone. 

"I believe you have something of mine beast!" , rang an angry voice from behind her, "I'll be taking it back now!" 

Almost immediately after the last words faded Elisa could feel the spear being drawn towards the source of the voice. Spinning around she saw Loki standing atop the main tower of Castle Wyvern, his hands glowing like emerald stars as they beckoned for the spear. The strength of the pull was incredible, even with her anger fuelled strength she was barely able to maintain her hold on it. Slowly she could hear the sound of the rock beneath her feet begin to crumble away under the pressure that her taloned feet were putting it under. Almost immediately the pull increased, she knew that another few seconds and it would be in Loki's hands once again. "Hey! Why don't I just let him have the spear" , thought Elisa as she looked at the ruby colored crystal, "and maybe something a little bit extra." With one last strain of her limbs Elisa ceased her resisting of the pull and allowed the spear to return to it's owner, only with her still clinging to it. Faster then a blackbird fighter jet she flew through the air, the spear in her hands positioned with the spear tip facing forward. Loki's horrified as he tried to divert the course of the spear brought a smile to her face. 

"This one's for you Goliath!" thought Elisa as she braced for impact. 

Then, no more then a second later she plunged the spear into the stomach of Loki, the look of horror still imposed onto his face. 

**************************************************************

"Uh oh, looks like its time to intervene, much as I would love to see Loki get what's coming to him" thought Puck as he floated off his perch on the castle wall. 

As he drew closer to the two combatants he could tell that Maza was ready to deliver the death blow. Every facet of her face showed that she wanted Loki to feel extreme pain, wanted him to suffer as she was suffering emotionally. 

"Now butcher, it is time for justice to be served", stated Maza in an unusually calm tone of voice, "It is time for Goliath's death to be avenged, now and forever!" 

"No Maza. Don't do it!" said Puck as he moved between Loki and the grief stricken gargoyle. 

"Out of my way Puck! I have no quarrel with you!" said the vengeful gargoyle. 

"Not until you hear what I have to say." , Puck said as moved toward the angry beast that was Elisa Maza, "Think about what you are about to do, you are about to commit murder." 

"He killed Goliath, he must pay for what he has done!", exclaimed Elisa pointing towards the now cooling ashes of her former love. 

"I agree in that respect Maza but consider this one fact" , said Puck as he began to conjure an image in mid-air, "A thousand years ago Goliath himself had to choose between life and death and in the end he chose life." 

"That was only because Princess Catherine was in danger, no one else is in danger here" , said Elisa as she turned away from the image of Goliath, "now there is only revenge, revenge for the death of my beloved!" 

"The circumstances don't matter, the fact is he didn't kill them" said Puck as the image faded from sight, "think Maza, is this how Goliath would want this battle to end, with blood?" 

"I..i.."stuttered the gargoyle as she pondered his words. 

"You say you want revenge for his death, Goliath himself once said that revenge never ends anything, Life does" , said Puck as he put a hand on Maza's shoulder, "and look how revenge has destroyed Demona's life, the one time mate of Goliath and current enemy." 

At the mention of Demona Elisa seemed to calm down but this could only be the calm before the storm. 

"Is that how you with to end up, sad and alone, living only for revenge?" , said Puck, "Do you want to go against everything you've been taught as a police officer just for a few moments of satisfaction?" 

For a moment neither the gargoyle nor Puck himself said anything. Elisa simply stood there, glancing at the crystal spear in her hand and then looking at Loki who at the moment was groaning in pain on the ground. 

Then the grief torn gargoyle dropped the spear and said"No, I will not kill him. Goliath would want his punishment to be fair and just and so that is what he'll get." 

******************************************************

"Puck handled that well" thought Oberon as he began to float towards his comical son. 

He knew that rarely took anything seriously but he also knew that in the rare moments when he did come close to becoming serious it was best to make it last. 

"How shall we punish him?" asked Elisa as she took notice of Oberon's approach. 

"I believe I have the answer to that" , said Oberon as he motioned for fox and Alexander to join them, "it is obvious that he cannot be safely contained so we must minimize his threat to earth." 

"How can we do that, its not like we can just take away his powers?" asked Fox as she landed on tower floor. 

"Ah but we can, as I restrained Puck's abilities so shall we take Loki's" , said Oberon as he moved to a position behind the injured god, "with the combined force of our powers combined we should be able to strip him of any and all magic he may possess." 

With no more than a nod the five sorcerers formed a circle around the fallen Loki and joined their hands together. 

"Sinful god of days gone by, a noble leader you caused to die, so now we do what we can,and make you now a mortal man!" chanted the collection of sorcerers and sorceresses as they pooled there magic together. 

Soon all five of them began to glow an eerie green glow as a column of light began to rise from their circle. All the other gargoyles and Xanatos could to was watch as they all became enveloped in a column of light. For the next four minutes the light continued to brighten the sky around them, so bright was it that it could be seen for miles around. Some people said that they think it was just another wacky experiment being conducted by Xanatos Enterprises,others will say that the gargoyle clan that Xanatos saved were turning on them. In the end none of them really knew what happened, perhaps that is how it should be. A mystery, something that was never meant to be known by anyone uninvolved. So it shall be called an 'industrial sabotage by Xanatos' P.R people and that the perpetrator had been apprehended. No one will truly know what happened high atop the multi-million dollar skyscraper except those who were there. 

"So justice had finally been served." thought Elisa as she gazed down at the plain clothed figure curled up on the ground. 

Walking over to the almost catatonic form shivering on the ground she reached down and brought the man to his feet. As she looked at the sad face of Loki she saw that the calm cool composure that had been there before had been stripped away.He simply stood there looking in pitiable form he was now bound to, looking like a boy who had everything taken away from him. 

"M-my powers, gone"muttered Loki as Elisa looked down at his saddened form. 

Taking him by the scruff of the neck she dove off the tower and glided down to to Xanatos who was still in awe of the display of magic that had been performed in front of him. 

"Goliath's death has been avenged, now all that is left is for him to answer for destroying the castle and for attacking your business complex" said Elisa as she dropped Loki at Xanatos' feet. 

"Yes and I think charges like destruction of public property, assault and other severe charges will serve to fill the bill of justice for tonight" said Xanatos as he grabbed Loki with his armored hand and walked into the devastated castle. 

They had won the battle and saved millions but for some reason Elisa still felt as though they had lost. Truthfully they had lost, they had lost a great leader, a great friend and a member of their clan.Everyone had lost something by Goliath's death but her loss had been the greatest of all, she had lost the one person she loved as much as life itself. Her existence now was like a prison sentence of her own, one she was doomed to face alone for the rest of my life. Slowly she walked up the cracked stairs of the main tower and made her way to the top. It was there that her feelings of sorrow seemed to strengthen, the sight of Goliath's perch where he rested during the day caused her to wince as the truth of his death continually made itself known. Slowly she sensed Fox and the other members of the magical strike team leave. She appreciated that,despite the fact that they wanted to try and comfort her they respected her need to be alone. 

********************************************************

Fox watched as the gargoyle she had come to know these past few days take her place for the day. She felt so sorry for Elisa, the detective had lost the one thing she really cared about in her life. She knew that she would have felt the same if David had been murdered. Deep in her heart she wanted to go over to the grief stricken women and try and comfort her but knew it would be best if she were to leave Elisa alone. She walked down the stairs and could feel the level of magic within her slowly begin to fade away. All the knowledge, all the power and all the experiences of the magicians of the past were vanishing like visions in a dream. Part of her welcomed the loss of the excess mental baggage but she could feel a small part of her wishing for at least some of the power to stay. 

It had felt so exhilarating when the magic had flowed through her body, it felt like she were being given a jump start of energy and it wouldn't go away. After the spell had been cast on Loki she felt this extra charge of energy begin to ebb away, like a bucket of water with a hole punched in the bottom. As she entered the ruins of the castle she tried with all her might to keep some of this newfound energy with her but it turned out to be futile. Oberon had said that the gifts she had been bestowed this night would fade once the task was done and it was doing exactly that. Fox took one last look back at the crouched form high atop the castles main tower. 

"If only there was some way to erase what happened, those two recall deserved each other"thought Fox as she resumed her paced walk into the ruins of castle Wyvern. 

This was truly a tragic point in her life, the way that they gave each other lovers eyes proved that much. Puck couldn't help but feel sorry for the dear detective Maza, true most of the time she was a complete stick in the mud but she wasn't all bad. It only took him a few minute to retrieve Alexander's soul from Hudson's body and from the looks of it the little munchkin' was completely tuckered out by the entire ordeal. 

"Pleasant dreams kid, you've earned it" whispered Puck as he transported them both to Alexander's room. 

He placed the fatigued child down in his crib and tucked him in, placing his favorite teddy bear beside him. 

"Sleep little one and I'll be back to check on you later" said Puck as he floated away from the edge of the crib. 

With the welfare of the child seen to his thoughts drifted back to the grieving gargoyle outside. It seemed such a shame, to love someone as deeply as she loved Goliath just to have him ripped from her life. He wished that there was something he could do but he still had a magical hand tied behind his back. 

"Hey, maybe there is something I can do!" said Puck happily as he once again vanished from the room. 

He soon reappeared outside and quickly located Oberon who apparently was preparing to return to Avalon. 

"Hey, wait!" , he yelled as he flew over to his father's side, "mind if I have a word with you!" 

The all powerful Oberon turned to face his dwarfish son with his usual icy cold look, which didn't make what Puck had to say any easier. 

"Yes Puck, what is it you wish to speak to me of?" asked the blue skinned lord. 

"Well I was just going to say that I think it's a real tragedy what happened just a few minutes ago", said Puck in as sympathetic a voice as he could muster, "too bad I couldn't just wiggle my nose and change everything so that it never happened." 

The pointy eared changeling seemed concerned by where this was going, Oberon's left eyebrow was cocked in puzzlement as he looked at Puck.

"What exactly are you trying to say Puck?" asked Oberon as he crossed his arms. 

"Well I was kinda hoping that we could make an exception this once and bring Goliath back" , Puck said as he gave Oberon the "pretty please"look, "I mean technically we have already interfered with her life already,the best thing we can do now is try to make everything work out alright."

For a moment it seemed as though Oberon was going to knock his block off for even considering making such a powerful change in the time stream but then something unexpected happened. Oberon simply turned around and disappeared into thin air. 

"Oh well, it was worth a shot" thought Puck as he shape shifted back into Owen Burnett and began to take inventory of what needed repairs and what needed replacement. 

Before he began he took one last look at the main tower and saw the remaining gargoyles of Goliath's clan land on their selective perches. 

"Such a tragedy" he muttered as he pushed up his glasses. 

*************************************************************************

"What will happen now?" seemed to be on the mind of everyone at that moment. 

With Goliath gone there would have to be a few changes. 

"Well Brooklyn it seems that you are the leader of the clan now" said Broadway as he looked at Goliath's former perch. 

To this the beaked gargoyle simply gave out a saddened sigh, as if he didn't really want to take the job. 

"I suppose so, but for some reason it just doesn't seem right" , said Brooklyn as he looked at his rookery brothers, "I kept thinking that I was a long way away from this, that I still had a lot to learn." 

"You'll find that the best teacher is experience lad" said Hudson as he put a taloned hand on the promoted leader. 

"I know but I still don't think I'm ready for that kind of responsibility" , said Brooklyn as he himself looked up at his new perch for the day, "I would rather wait until I am really ready to lead then start now and fail." 

"If you don't want to lead then who will?" asked Lexington looking at them both. 

"I think Elisa should be the leader now that Goliath is gone" , said Angela for the first time since she saw her father die, "he trusted her with his life and believe it is what Goliath would have wanted." 

To this they all seemed to agree on the visible level,they all knew how much Elisa meant to Goliath. They knew that had Elisa been a gargoyle when it came time for a second in command to be chosen Goliath would have chosen her without hesitation. Slowly they climbed up to the top of the tower where they could see that Elisa was still sitting looking out into the brightening night sky. 

"Elisa." said Brooklyn as he began to slowly walk toward her. 

It took a few tries to get a response out of the jean wearing gargoyle but eventually she turned around and looked at him. 

"Elisa we have all talked about this and have decided that even though Goliath selected me to be leader if he should die, we want you to lead instead" said Brooklyn waiting nervously for a response. 

Elisa was in a fragile state right now, the sudden weight of leadership could cause her to react in any number of ways. For a moment she seemed as if she would start crying again at the sound of Goliath's name but then she stood up and took him by the shoulder. 

"Brooklyn I appreciate the gesture but I don't think I could bear the weight of leadership right now" said Elisa in a low calm voice. 

"You shouldn't have to bear such a weight Elisa" came a voice from above, a voice that seemed to be coming from beyond the grave. 

They all looked up into the sky and opened their mouths in shock, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. High above them, silhouetted in a large green vortex stood two figures, one a silken clad woman with silvery hair and the other a large winged lavender form. 

"Goliath" was all Elisa could get out as she looked at the form of her recently departed lover. 

Elisa could scarcely believe her eyes, there standing before her was the gargoyle who she had so recently begun to mourn. With newfound energy produced by her overflowing joy she leaped into the strong body of the man (gargoyle, whatever you want to call it) tears streaming down the side of her cheek like Niagara Falls. She couldn't believe it, Goliath was alive and well and back in the land of the living. Though she could barely sense it she could feel their two winged forms slowly gliding to the ground. When they landed the air was filled with the sounds of cheers,laughter and of course questions as to his survival. 

"Goliath you're alive, but how?!" she asked asked as she tried to clear up her cracking joy filled voice. 

"Thank Luna for that, I'm not exactly sure how but just before Loki's spell hit me she somehow teleported me to Avalon" said Goliath as he too began to shed tears of joy. 

Looking over at the weird sister who was standing patiently in the background she could see that she was quite happy about reuniting Goliath and herself but she also noticed that her two sisters were missing. 

"Luna, you have given me a gift that I may never be able to repay" , she said as she walked over to the white haired woman. 

"The saving of your beloved was done not as a favor to you but as a favor to my shattered soul" , said Luna as she gave a stone cold look to Elisa, "I watched my own sisters die in my own arms from Loki's attack, I could not bear to see such a tragedy be repeated." 

This came as quite a shock to Elisa, the children of Oberon were said to be immortal. The thought that it was possible for one of them could die much less two of them startled her. 

"How can this be, you and your kind are immortal?" ,asked Goliath as he looked at the daughter of Titania, "your sisters should not be dead." 

"The myth of our immortality is but a false truth spread throughout the ages by Oberon" , said Luna who seemed to be struggling to maintain composure, "it is quite possible for a member of the third race to die, it is just very hard to do." 

With that final word out of her mouth she turned to walked fly back through the portal to Avalon but Elisa couldn't allow it to happen. 

Grabbing Luna by the shoulder she stopped her in her tracks and said "Luna wait!" 

*********************************************************************

Goliath was overjoyed when he was reunited with his clan and he was especially grateful to see Elisa. When the ball of flame came flying towards him he thought that that was it, that he would never see Angela or Elisa or the entire clan ever again. When he had mysteriously appeared on Avalon he was a bit mystified by it. Had Loki transported him on purpose or had another player been involved? Oberon was present but he was bound by his own laws not to interfere in the affairs of mortals, he couldn't have been the one to save him, could he? He soon discovered the identity of his unknown savior and was completely shocked to discover that it had been one of the weird sisters. It had been only a few weeks ago that they had tried to drive them and the rest of the gargoyles off Avalon and awhile before that they had aided the Arch-Mage in attacking his rookery children, why would she suddenly helping to save his life? He didn't have time to ask her as they were instantly transported back to the castle(or a few feet above the castle to be exact) hovering over his grief stricken clan. The reunion had made him feel better then he had felt in a long while and from what he could see the others shared his joy. The one thing that he hadn't expected was Elisa preventing Luna from returning to Avalon.

"What are you doing Elisa?" thought Goliath with a puzzled look on his face. 

"What more do you want of me gargoyle, I have saved your love, is that not enough?" asked Luna with a irritated look on her face. 

"I want nothing, in fact I only wish to offer you something" said Elisa as she looked at Luna with a look of compassion on her face, "you have lost your sisters and I know you are overwhelmed with grief, so in repayment I ask that you allow us to help you through it and join our clan." 

Luna definitely didn't expect this, that much was perceivable by the look of shock on her face. Goliath knew that he better step in and break the silence before Luna had the chance to take it the wrong way. 

"You have saved my life and given my clan back the joy that was so wrongfully taken from them" he said as he took his place by Elisa's side, "you too have had something taken from you, let us help heal that wound and repay you for your act by joining the clan." 

His statement was quickly accompanied by resounding voices of agreement and encouragement from the rest of the clan.For a moment it seemed as though she didn't know what to do, a look of confusion seemed to cover her face. 

"Oberon will surely scold me for what I have done, and the punishment would be quite a bit more severe then the last time" , said the silk clad maiden as she looked them all over, "I have lost all I care about and now after all I have done to you and your kind over the past millennium you want me to join your clan?" 

To this summary of events Goliath simply nodded, he knew that he didn't need to say a word for her to see that the offer was genuine. 

"I will need some time to think about this" , said Luna, "I shall return five minutes before sunrise with my decision." 

With not even a word more uttered she vanished and left the welcoming clan to their own thoughts. 

********************************************************************

Xanatos had been quite surprised when he heard the sudden roars of joy coming from outside. He had fully expected them to be silent for the remainder of the evening or at least doing some sort of gargoyle funeral not laughing and cheering with joy. He had already handed Loki over to his security guards and told them to call the police to come pick them up, they seemed a bit puzzled as to why he insisted on placing the man in manacles he had designed to hold a gargoyle but they knew better then to question the guy who signs their paychecks. Walking outside he saw standing atop the tower eight gargoyles, all of them dealing out hugs. For a second the thought of eight gargoyles didn't bother him but then it hit him. 

"There should be only seven now with Goliath gone" , he thought as he engaged his jet pack and began to fly up to the tower, "This definitely warrants investigating." 

As he got closer he began mentally marking off the gargoyles he could immediately identify, when he finished checking off all the ones that should be alive he looked down and saw a gargoyle that should be dead. 

"Goliath, what are you doing alive?" , he asked asked as he landed on the tower floor, "could it be that you discovered the secret to immortality and didn't tell me?" 

"No I didn't discover the secret of immortality" replied Goliath as he looked in a sly way at him, " I had some help from an immortal aquantince of mine." 

It was obvious by the vagueness of Goliath's reply that he wasn't going to tell him anything extra. 

"Well I'm just glad to have you back among us" , he said in as sincere a voice he could manage, "next time try to take better care of yourself, I wouldn't want to have my best rival taken out of the game of life." 

Goliath nodded and Xanatos decided that with that concluded he should get back to trying to make up the right speech to tell the Illuminati when he asks them for even more repairs to the castle. 

"They are going to hit the roof when they get the bill for this" he thought with a sigh, "but the fact that I have discovered another useful pawn in Maza should soften the blow a bit." With that he walked into the castle and began thinking of crafty phrases to use in his speech. 

**************************************************************

When Oberon returned he saw his beloved wife sitting at the dining room table, eyes puffy and trails of tears still visible on her cheek. 

"I too share your loss my dear, Seline and Phoebe were two of my most cherished daughters" , he said as he raised her drooped chin carefully with his hand,"but worry not, the blackguard who did it has been punished in a fashion most unique." 

This bit of news seemed to brighten her spirits a bit but the one name he left out seemed to sour things for her. 

"What of Luna, was she not as good as her sisters?" she asked as a look of anger began to form on her face. 

"I do not mourn Luna because she is not dead" , he said turning away from his wife, "she survived Loki's assault and made it so Goliath survived his attack as well." 

A look of pure joy burst onto the face of Titania as she began to shed tears of joy. To this act he did nothing and to this reaction his beloved wife seemed puzzled and confused.

"You tell me that one the three weird sisters to which I have given birth to is still alive and yet you look as though you wish she had, why?" Titania asked as she grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around to face her.

"I am glad that she survived and I do wish things to go back the way things were between she and I" , he said with a sad look scrawled across his face, "but she has also broken one of my most profound and highest laws and must be punished." 

Word of punishment seemed to shock his dear wife to the bone, he knew that she couldn't understand why he would punish Luna so soon after the death of her sisters. 

"I know that you think me cruel and unjust by this declaration but it must be done" , he said as he placed both hands on the shoulders of Titania, "if I do not it may be seen as favouritism among a few of the children and start a civil war among them,that cannot be allowed to happen." 

Titania remained silent after the conclusion of his explanation and seemed to be at war within herself. Her maternal side against her logical side, in battle for control over her reaction to this news. 

"I accept the blame for my actions and am prepared to face punishment", said a soft voice that broke the silence, "and I believe I know one such possible punishment." 

***************************************************************************

It was nearly sunrise and Luna had not returned, this worried Elisa a bit.True she barely knew the woman but she still couldn't help but feel a certain sense of sisterhood towards her. Though she herself was not of Oberon's family Avalonic energy still coursed through her veins. The transformation that the sphere of Titania had put her through had done more then change her into a gargoyle and give her the ability to rechannel magic. It made her, on some scale or another, the living embodiment of the sphere. She now had within her power far beyond that of mortals and thanks to Oberon's spell she now knew how to use it. Deep down she also knew that the power within her was also capable of changing her back to human form but at that moment she knew that it was her destiny to stay this way. She may not understand all the details of it but she could feel it in her bones that for some reason, comprehensible or not, she was born for this.Manipulator of the magical forces around her, lover to the only gargoyle clan in New York and protector of the city. 

"Yep, this is most definitely the way things were meant to be for me" thought Elisa as she prepared to move into the form she would be frozen in for the rest of the day. 

"Elisa Maza" said a feminine voice behind her. 

She knew who it was without even catching a glimpse of her. 

"Luna I'm so glad you came back, have you made your decision?"she asked as her eyes set on the figure before her. 

Her eyes almost jumped out of their sockets when she saw the winged form before her. She knew it was Luna, that much could be seen from the long white hair and the familiar facial features. The features that didn't fit were the three toed foot, the two lavender wings, the fangs in her mouth and the razor sharp taloned fingers. 

"You seem surprised Elisa, did you not invite me to join your clan?" asked Luna as she looked Elisa's puzzled look.

"Sure I did and I assume that given your current form that you have accepted" , replied Elisa as she tried to regain composure, "It was just that I was surprised to see you looking so good considering how you went against Oberon's laws." 

The mention of Oberons laws, even the mention of Oberon himself seemed to sadden the powerful changeling and that worried her. She had known that Oberon's punishments were always a bit harsh for her tastes but given how important and how stressed the non-interference law she was surprised that she looked this good. 

"I didn't escaped punishment completely Elisa Maza, I am forbidden to use my powers except in the teaching and supervising of your abilities" , said Luna as she tried to put on a cheerful face, "I am also forever confined to this one form for the rest of my mortal life." 

Elisa was slowly going over each of the punishments Luna had said and each seemed not to bad but when she came to the end and heard the words mortal life she for a moment was shocked then transformed into a feeling of pity. 

"I am sorry that saving Goliath has cost you so much Luna" she said as she walked towards the sullen faced gargoyle. 

"Don't be, I knew what was going to happen long before intervened in the battle" said Luna as she took Elisa's hand and held it in both hands. 

"Well I still owe you a debt Luna and I fully intend on paying you back for saving Goliath from Loki" said Elisa as she looked into Luna's eyes, "but the first installment of the repayment will have to wait until tomorrow night, the sun is about rise." 

With that matter finished they both walked towards the edge of the tower ramparts and took their places for the day. Luna took it as though she had done it all her life,definitely one of the perks to being an immortal. As they both approached their respective spots on the tower both Luna and Elisa received looks of appreciation and welcome from the other gargoyles. The sight of being accepted into a family, to once again belong to closely knit group like her deceased sisters seemed to please Luna. 

"I hope everything will work out for her, she deserves it" thought Elisa as she took the pose of a gargoyle ready to attack it's foe. 

With the end of the black star lit night comes the beginning of a new day and the hope of a another night. As the stone defenders of the night change into their slumbering stone states one can only wonder what significance this night has had in the grand scheme of things. 

What has happened this night has changed the destinies or perhaps help fulfill them in some peculiar way. Elisa has discovered many a things in the past few hours that before had been unclear to her, some of which she knew deep down inside. Others that up until tonight had been as uncertain and unknown as the future. We never know what the future will bring or what changes we will undergo, but the one thing that we do know is that we are in control.Luna has lost two of the most important things in her life but has through her actions gained eight more people that if given time might become just that for her. Only time will tell and only thought the actions done in the nights to come will decide if the fates smile upon these nine warriors or if an impending apocalypse is on it's way. Who know's?!

---The End--- 


End file.
